#He doesn't suffer and learn from the consequences

[captain-astors]

Creature. (The rendered ones are referenced from manga panels)

[mythology-void]

okay so I was doing a Research™️ about ancient Greek etymology as one does and I found some Things that made me want to Violently Claw My Arms Off please allow me to force feed you my discoveries

So there are 2 words for "not" in ancient Greek, depending on the context: ou and mē. Having introduced himself in the Cyclops episode as " ou tis", or No-man, he then stabs Polyphemus in the eye. When Polyphemus' brothers come to check on him, they say this:

"... surely no man [mē tis] is carrying off your sheep? Surely no man [mē tis] is trying to kill you either by fraud or by force?"

Right after this, after the other cyclopes ditch Polyphemus, Odysseus's inner monologue goes something like this:

"Then they went away, and I laughed inwardly at the success of my clever strategem [metis]." (pronounced mEH-Tis)

Now, there's a difference between mē tis and metis. [mē tis] (pronounced mEH-Tis with a space between the syllables) is the literal translation for "no man". Metis is a word for extreme intelligence/cunning, which is something Odysseus is famous for.

Now, there are several examples of abuse of metis/intelligence in the Odyssey, but I think the juxtaposition between [mē tis], or the concept of anonymity, and metis, or extreme intelligence, is REALLY interesting. Odysseus's adoption of the title "No-man" was characteristic of metis--it was a really smart move that simultaneously hid him from the cyclops and avoided any future consequences. It was a highly effective strategy all wrapped up in a nest little package with a bow on it.

But when he revealed himself as Odysseus of Ithaca, effectively throwing off No-man (anonymity and [mē tis]), that was characterized as idiocy--he's essentially doxxed himself, and now he's doing to (spoiler alert) get tossed around the Mediterranean by Poseidon for the next 10 years.

This is really interesting because it lets you see the parallels/codependency between metis(intelligence) and humility. When Odysseus refused to allow himself to go unnoticed (hubris) he suffered for it. BUT when he declined instant glory/satisfaction (kleos) in order to achieve the long term goal of survival, he was rewarded with Athena's favor (pay attention. This part is important).

And this situation repeats itself MULTIPLE TIMES in the Odyssey--the EXACT SAME THING happens near the end of the book, with the suitors. When. Odysseus is dressed as a beggar and the suitors/Antinious are abusing him, he ACTIVELY CHOOSES not to react--he doesn't stand up and rip off his disguise and start hollering "TIS I, ODYSSEUS OF ITHACA! FEAR MY WRATH"

No. He sits there patiently and waits. He plans and schemes and quietly orchestrates their downfall without alerting them of it. Why? Because he learned his lesson the first time this happened. He buried his rage and adopted what was, according to Grace LA Franz, a more feminine form of metis, weaving a web of destruction for his enemies that ultimately resulted in their total annihilation (see Weaving a Way to Nostos: Odysseus and Feminine Metis in the Odyssey by Grace LaFranz). His patience allowed him to win the whole prize--no questions asked, no 10-year-long-business-trip strings attached--just the sweetness of a full victory. And he is, once again, rewarded with Athena's favor--both in the battle with the suitors and in the aftermath (cleanup/reuniting with Penelope).

This really reinforces the idea in the Odyssey that Odysseus's defining characteristic is not just his intelligence--it's his ability to learn from his mistakes. He used what he learned at the Lotus Eaters Island against Polyphemus--the Lotus Eaters drugged his men, so he drugged Polyphemus. He used what he learned from Circe and Polyphemus against the suitors--Circe used false sweetness and honeyed words to lure his men into a trap, so that's exactly what he did to the suitors. His hubris on Polyphemus' island cost his whole crew their lives, so he intentionally left well enough alone until the right time. He didn't just learn from his failures--he turned them into BATTLE STRATEGY.

i don't care what anyone says that is completely totally and objectively awesome

[ventique18]

Ok so I've been seeing complaints about Book 7's ending by a few minority not only here, but from other platforms as well. While everyone is of course allowed to dislike something, let's tackle a few points:

Malleus deserved a harsher punishment

Everyone witnessed Diasomnia's moment. Everybody knew he accidentally killed Lilia. Everyone knows how much Lilia means to Malleus. So everyone knows that there's no punishment harsher than the eternal scar of accidentally killing your own father.

And that's not enough, because he lost majority of his power. THIS is his prolonged punishment. We should remember that his entire life revolved around being the strongest, so all of his foundation hinged on that. If you're an artist, it's like losing your dominant hand and having to relearn how to draw with your other. Except in his case it's like losing both his hands so he needs to learn how to draw with his feet.

While it's true that he's far happier now than he was when he was strong, that doesn't mean he won't go through so much suffering as a consequence. For 200 years. 200 years of being weak means he's not fit to be king; no Dark Fae will follow a man akin to a common Fae. His nobles will not respect him. He's now a very easy target, since he's not indestructible anymore.

This basically means he's currently a pretty decoration to Briar Valley. An unemployed trust fund kid. Random people will likely mock him or treat him like an amusing animal in a zoo.

Which means he will have to build his reputation from the ground up, against all odds, as a disgraced prince.

Malleus tried to kill x and x

No he did not. He genuinely thought he found a breakthrough and was doing the world a service by making immortality accessible to everyone. Remember that he used to be the strongest; he thought nobody was just capable of this feat until he did.

He was quite literally insane at that moment. When he did accidentally kill Lilia, he snapped to his senses and immediately reacted like a small child. He doesn't want to believe it, because he would never do something like that. He simply doesn't want to kill anyone-- what he wanted was the opposite: that nobody needs to die anymore.

Everybody left him off the hook so easily

We get a lot of scenes explaining this. Sure maybe for you their reasons are bullshit, but the fact is that this is a Disney story. He would never be executed. But the following are from different accounts from different characters.

There were actually very few injured, because even though he was insane in dragon form, a part of his morality was there and he unconsciously avoided hurting people as much as possible. There are more injuries that happen in Spelldrive than who Malleus injured, according to Epel.

For the rest of the student body, they were simply having the best dreams of their lives. Many compared to it an amusement park and want to experience it again.

The other overblotters tried to protest, but were reminded that they too almost killed people. Some were genuinely out to kill people while Malleus wasn't.

Most people on Sage Island are actually good people, unlike NRC students. They embody the values of Fantasia Mickey, where the apprentice was given a second chance instead of being exiled because he showed actual remorse.

He is entitled and thinks he's always right

Yes he's entitled. But that's part of his character. He thought he was right, insisted he was right, but when he was defeated and told otherwise, he accepted it wholeheartedly. He was the only overblotter who actually apologized in public, recognized he did wrong, thanked everyone for helping him, and swore he will become a better man.

He literally can't take back anything that's happened. Kicking him further will not achieve anything.

Why didn't he talk it out with Yuu instead of immediately jumping to overblot

He doesn't even understand that he's feeling something negative. Nobody taught him to recognize his own feelings. He was raised to be strong and independent, so his first instinct was to deal with the problem himself.

He can't even talk it out with Lilia and Silver; there was no way he could talk it out to a friend he just met that year.

His power literally hurts his surroundings when he tries to feel things. He's likely afraid of accidentally striking someone with lightning or drowning them in storms if he admits that he's feeling down.

He didn't know too much negative feelings could lead to an overblot. He was already out of his mind before he knew it.

There could be more but these are off the top of my head.

[tokoyamisstuff]

listen I LOVED another chance at love, but I need it darker. like WAY darker. pretty please?

sighs and cracks knuckles alrighty then...

Psychosocial

Sinister! Mark x gn! Reader

Warnings: graphic description of violence and death, forced relationship, manipulation, yandere trope, cannibalistic tendencies, not proofread

"Emperor..."

The sound of your voice was the only thing able to dring through to Mark during his homicidal fury, eyes lighting up in almost manic joy as he shifts his attention away from the mangled carcasses in front of him. His torture had them succumb to their injures minutes ago, and yet that didn't stop him from contunuing to vent his anger on their lifeless bodies.

Their excruciating deaths should serve as warning example of what awaits whoever dares trying to take you away from him.

Not even two hours had passed since those rebels abducted you, hoping that taking you hostage would serve as means of negotiation - though some of them argued about whether or not punish him for his crimes by making you suffer.

Even if they intended to kill you, that brief interaction with 'normal' people was a welcomned diversion from your lonely existence in the Emperor's golden cage.

Of course there was no reasoning with this man - if anything, their actions had only further fueled the hatred and aversion he felt for those 'inferior creatures'.

From the very start you knew that their hopeless ambitions would cause dire consequences even for the uninvolved, but were unable to convince them of abandoning their efforts. You claimed that you were insignificant to the Emperor, merely a disposable plaything he would kill himself eventually. It was only half a lie...

...but after all this time of being succumbed to his madness, you stopped fearing your death, yearned for it even.

Invincible kept telling himself the same damn thing, trying to convince himself that his little infatuation of his was nothing more than a feeble fascination he would soon overcome.

However, the moment he realized you had disappeared from his chambers, he saw red.

Because the opposite was the case: You were the last thing that kept his mind somewhat intact, the only person to bring forth the last remnant of humanity he wasn't even aware he possessed until he met you.

Without you, he'd burn it all down.

"Y/N!" he cheered, not a hint of having gone berserk earlier left in his tone. He let the corpse of the latest enemy he busied himself with drop onto the floor, and you winced at the disgusting sound of bloodied flesh hitting concrete. Your stomach turned, not due to the horrific slaughter unfolding in front of you, but because all you were able to feel right now was relief that you weren't on the receiving end of his wrath.

That doesn't mean you're safe just yet. Your punishment may just have been postponed due to his relief to see you unharmed, and his delusions making him belief you returned to him out of your own volition.

But the truth is you had simply given in to your fate long ago.

"You okay, doll?" Yes, a doll. A toy. That's all you are. Victim to his whims, used and tossed away...or broken. Whatever happens first. "Those savages didn't hurt you, right?"

Your eyes were glued on one of the enemies that was still - barely - breathing, his limbs twisted in unnatural positions and writhing in unbearable agony.

"Hello?" Mark cannot stand your attention to be on anyone else than him - your hero and savior, after all - trying to make you snap out of it by flicking his fingers in front of your face. "Look. At. Me." His voice remained smooth as honey as he spoke, but there was a subtle threat to the deliverance of his line.

He was a wolf in sheep's clothing, nothing more but a monster that adapted a human performance in order to lull people into a false sense of security.

You knew him better than that, learned to read every shift of tone, microexpression or movement of his. It's an act of self-preservation that helped to redirect his erratic nature before it could hit you.

But this...was just too much to be worrying about yourself.

"Please..." you choke on your own sobs, rooted on spot in the middle of carnage. "Put him out of his misery."

Your saddened, almost disappointed expression hit his chest harder than any punch of his father ever could. He wasn't able to feel guilt for his actions, not really, but that doesn't mean he's completely callous - as much as he wants to be.

Mark's emotions are just different than most: Dulled, incomprehensible, easily overshadowed by the Viltrumite propaganda that was drilled into his brain through inhumane methods.

And right now, he feels...damn, he can't even put it into words.

But he can show you.

His mouth is pressed into a thin line, and you can almost feel him roll his eyes behind the black goggles as he wryly scoffs "You're such a killjoy."

Nonetheless, he presses his boot on the poor fella's skull, and you hear an audible crack before it scatters into a million pieces of bone and brain matter. He takes a second to admire his handiwork, at least having the decency to wipe his hands clean on his cape before approaching you. "The things I wouldn't do for you, amirite?"

You stand there motionless, hugging yourself as you watch the crimson pulp, a sole tear escaping your eyes despite your best efforts to present yourself like he expects.

"Ah, c'mon. Don't be a crybaby. You've seen me do worse." A condescending smile decorates his face as he towers in front of you, petting your hair in a both warning and appreciating manner. "Aaaaand...?"

"...and I love you either way" you wrung out the empty, repeated words he wanted to hear, and instantly Mark grabs the back of your neck, pulling you in for a searing kiss. His canines sink deep into your bottom lip, a sensual sigh escaping his throat as he savoured the taste.

"Why do you care about those lowlives anyways?" Your breath hitches when he strokes your cheek in a mockery of tenderness, always anticipating pain. "Be-because I'm one of them."

Silence.

You fucked up.

Why do you always provoke him, you both think in unison. It would be so much easier if you'd just go against your true feelings and continue acting like a doting partner.

Well, sometimes the heart speaks it's truth faster than the reason can catch up on.

Mark clicks his tongue in contempt, his palm still lingering on your neck becoming painful as his fingernails dug into the skin. He hates being remembered of this blemish that is your relationship...

...that he's in love with someone that's so beneath him, that he can never be the man you could truly, genuinely want let alone deserve, and especially knowing that your life will be over in a fraction of his own.

"Sweetheart" he spat, voice laced with honeyed venom that made your skin crawl. "You just don't see the bigger picture yet." But he'll make you see...just like he made you see that you were made for each other.

He forcefully takes ahold of your chin, eyes boring into yours and you could clearly see the storm raging beneath. "You are not like them. Not at all. Because I chose you, elevated you to be more than the pathetic worm you were destined to be-"

Blood was rushing so loudly in your ears, you didn't even notice reinforcements arrive and opening fire until Mark had to release his grasp on you. The bullets hitting his back aren't enough to do so much as tickling him, but it was you he worried about.

A manic grin splits across his face as he swung an arm around you to shield you with his body, while at the same time disarming the small group with an effortless strike.

Weird.

You were sure he'd kill all of them instantly.

He dwells in people's misery, but not at your extent, and currently you were close enough to get into harm's way. And he never misses, so why are there survi-

No.

"Don't-" But Mark silenced you with a glare as he grabbed the two survivors by the throat, lifting them up with ease. His cogitous hum turned into a demented cackle, as if a metaphorical lightbulb had just lit up in his head.

So he spared them intentionally.

"You probably thought you survived up until now because you're special or some bullshit..." his pressure on their windpipes increases, taunting them with his hauntingly calm voice, "But you were simply not worth killing. It was way more fun seeing you writhe, hiding in the dirt and knowing theres nothing you can do to stop me. But this..." He points over his shoulder to where your trembling self has to observe all of this. "That crossed a line. I don't like others touching what's mine."

Eventually, Mark turns around to face you again, his facial features encouraging, innocent even. "Choose" he orders, exhilarated with this new game he invented for his entertainment.

This is no new situation, really. Yet it never fails to break apart your soul, taking something from it that you can never regain.

Usually he makes you wittness him committ atrocious deeds, just to make you tell him rehearsed affirmations of your love afterwards. He wants you to see him at his worst and stay either way as if you had any choice at all.

This time however, it wasn't enough. Never is.

He wanted to actively involve you.

"Y/N, darlin'..." the Viltrumite chants lovingly, quite amused as he watched the rebels helplessly claw at his arm, struggling against his sheer tremendous power. "I said choose. Who dies, the man or the woman?"

You softly cling onto his back, tug and punch weakly at the fabric of his cape as you bury yourself against his unrelenting muscle. "I-I can't...please do-on't make me..."

"Do. It." he urges, an irritated crease forming on his forehead. "Or I'll kill them both."

All your pleading and crying is to no avail, and soon it's drowned out by those people's choking and gasping, echoing against the walls of their destroyed hideout.

Ultimatively one of the two manages to signalize you his dying wish, glancing frantically over to his female companion before his eyes roll far back into his skull, close to passing out. Sadly, you understood immediately.

"The man!" you scream at the top of your lungs, shortly before life left their eyes completely...

...just for Invincible to bury his hands into both of their abdomen, balling a fist inside them before pulling out their intestines. He licks his lips as their blood splatters across his face, grimacing at the foul taste. Yours is so much better.

Oh, how much he wishes it was you instead. He wants to eviscerate you, nestle in your chest cavity right next to your heart.

"Why..." You fall to your knees, defeated whimmers soon turning into angered yells. "WhywhywhywhyWHY?!"

Aw, it's so cute when you're upset. It's gotten harder to lure a reaction like this out of you recently.

"A gift" he explains, shooting you an unapologetic look as he caged you in between his arms. "I know you too well. You would've blamed yourself for the choice either way, but like this you don't have to." That probably makes sense in his disturbed sense of logic. A sign of his wicked sense of affection.

He should do this more often.

It always bothered him that you were so...good. It made you incompatible.

But Mark...he slowly but steadily molded you. Soon you'd be perfect.

"You're the fucking best!" He exclaims, as if he wanted to shout it across the world, to let everyone know that just how amazing you are and that and you're his.

"Deep down you're just as fucked up as I am" Mark then chants, clearly pleased with himself. He boops your nose, leaving a blood red fingerprint. "And I just helped you realize that. Embrace it."

You refuse to respond to that, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. And yet the worst thing is that deep down, he might be onto something.

Of course you had no other choice. Of course you played along to survive. And even if you didn't comply, he'd have methods to make you...

...but in the end he didn't even have to try. You were just so damn tired of it all, grew indifferent to a degree that frightened you.

Maybe you weren't all that different after all. Not anymore at least.

"Let's go home." Mark curls you into his arms as gently as he was capable of, securely keeping you in place as he rose into the sky. The air was filled with dust and smoke, a perfect excuse for the tears dwelling beneath your lids, shall he ever acknowledge them.

You close your eyes, trying to dissociate and shun out the heartbreaking reality and yet their screams were haunting you even after you had been too far away to hear.

Subconsciously, you cuddle up against Mark, hearing an almost shy chuckle rumble in his chest. You tried to warm yourself in his embrace, however the coldness you felt was far from physical.

"You've been through a lot" you hear him whisper, an unusual concern present in the way he speaks. "I'm sorry for not protecting you better." It's the first time he apologizes, and it's not even because of his own actions.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, seriously..." Much to your surprise his voice cracks in genuine anguish at the mere thought of losing you, but he's quick to put up the confident front again. "Don't worry, next time I won't be this merciful with anyone that dares trying."

Your head falls in defeat and you lean your ear against his sternum, allowing the tears to run free while you listen to the drum of his heartbeat. It was constantly slow and surreal calm, beating erratic only in the few occasions that you were not with him.

"Shh...don't cry. I'm here, I got you." Mark's lips grace your cheeks, savouring the salt of your tears as he kisses them away. "I love you...and I won't let anyone take you from me ever again."

His gentleness is almost harder to bear than his cruelty.

[a-mint-bear]

Cygnus Headcanon Post

🌠Destined Lover from Beyond the Stars🌠

● His face is stiffer that it looks, not a lot of dynamic facial muscles. It makes him less expressive than how human it might appear. The lack of interpersonal interaction his species engages in means they’ve evolved with less need for expressing these kinds of things to each other.

● He had a tail when he was a baby, almost as long as he was. As he got older his scaled armor came in and his tail got smaller until it was covered by the big scales. When he molts, the tail is visible and he finds it embarrassing. As a side effect, he sees creatures with tails as inherently cute as his brain goes “that's a baby”. He wonders if his babies with you will have tails.

● He has trouble recognizing human emotions. So at first, he doesn't know when you're upset or afraid. But he wants to learn. He’s always staring at you, studying everything about you. Your expressions, your body language, the sounds you make. The longer he studies you, it stops being about learning more about you and more about just… watching you. Everything about you just fascinates him.

● Some star systems have treaties with his race that they won’t be included in The Courtship, but they do accept voluntary participants

● He first came to Earth for a completely different reason. At the last port he'd stopped at for refueling, he'd spotted a creature with some similar features to him. The bipedal stance, a similar skull structure, the same flat, soft features in his face. A quick scan and an introduction later, the creature revealed a bit about themself. They said that their sire was of a race from the planet Earth. He'd never heard of it before, or seen a homo sapien, a "human". But the planet and it's people weren't part of any treaties. He could go there without suffering any consequences from the Galactic High Committees. It wasn't a certainty, but he had this urge to find out where his genes may have come from.

● He knew the moment he saw you that you were his mate. Everything about you appealed to him in a way no other creature ever had. Your scent captivated him, when he caught it for the first time, it felt like his insides were on fire. He hunted that wonderful scent for days., always just missing it He felt this pull in his chest, like his body wouldn't stop until he found the source. He didn't know at the time what was compelling him, but when you came into view, everything suddenly made perfect sense.

● It was you. You looked very much like every other human he'd passed while chasing that feeling, with a few notable features and flaws. But everything he saw made him feel something. Something new. It felt physically painful to look away from you for the first few nightfalls. Then, even though it calmed a bit, he trailed after you like everything depended on having you near.

● Before he took his Starlight aboard his ship, he needed to observe them to know how best to take care of them. He scanned their environment to check what their atmosphere was like to recreate it on their ship. He took note of what proteins and vegetation they could and could not consume. He noted their sleeping habits using his cloaking technology, standing mere steps from their bed as they slept. And through all of it, he had to see them interacting with other humans in their day-to-day life. He hated it. Every day, he could feel something inside him changing.

● When he incapacitated you to begin The Courtship, he held you in his arms for the longest time. He watched you breathe, putting his face in the crook of your neck. He had never felt this... this sense of safety, security... this overwhelming sense of possessiveness. You were his, and if anyone tried to take you from him... he could feel the back of his neck grow hot with an overwhelming rage.

● His senses:

-Hearing: Big ol’ ears let him hear everything. Very sensitive and can pick up frequencies human ears can’t. Can hear your heartbeat but doesn't know enough about human physiology to use that info for anything. - Taste & Smell: You’re surprised the first time you see his tongue, it’s bright blue, long and nearly prehensile. He can taste the air with it like a lizard, but has less taste buds than a human. He can’t taste spice but he loves human sweets and baking. His sense of smell is pretty good. He has scent glands on his cheeks like a cat and can identify different people by their scent. He loves to rub his face to yours to make you smell like him, marking you as his. -Touch: Less developed than a human. The bio-armor he sports protects him but also makes him less likely to notice any light touch below his neck. But it also means he can take a beating. Much more sensitive when he’s molted and touch overstimulates him. -Sight: Big ol’ peepers. He can see in the dark and has better vision than a human but not super powerful or anything. It's hard to tell where he is looking sometimes because he doesn't have visible pupils, and it unsettles you sometimes that he doesn't seem to blink. In reality, he has transparent eyelids that blink so fast you don't notice them, like a lizard.

● He knows how his people are supposed to carry out The Courtship (the part where the babies are made), but he can't help but be fascinated with the way humans do it. He wants to hold you close. He wants to feel your oddly soft skin against him. He wants to see you vulnerable and open yourself completely to him. Genetically he knows the two of you are compatible but he… doesn't want to follow through with The Courtship unless you want him. The way he wants you.

● His people don't have a home world anymore, they are nomadic and travel the stars isolated from even each other. There are some stories about the home world they once had, eons ago, but a lot of them don't believe it ever existed.

● From his time on Earth, he had seen how humans structured their clans, their families. His people don't usually care for their young for long after they are old enough to feed themselves. It was just their way, it made them seek out their own way to live out among the stars. And this made them more likely to branch out their own genetic material farther away from where their sires had originated. But some humans raised their young for much longer than that, well past reaching maturity. And then some even kept in contact with their progenitor or progenitors well past creating their own families.

● He wondered if you would want to care for the young that came from the two of you, or if you would look upon them as frightful creatures. They wouldn't look completely human, and he had seen humans throw away their young for fewer differences. He knew you had a kindness, a warmth to you... but you were still wary of him. He had never thought of how he would see his offspring, but they would be a part of you... When he thought of them, and you, your own family... He caught himself purring, from time to time.

[messiahzzz]

it is a conscious choice of mystra to initially present herself as this benevolent, courteous, and merciful being. a practiced and perfected approach she knows will compel gale to follow her demands with the least amount of resistance on his part. he already refused to follow her instructions when she sent elminster to request his death — his effective father figure, gale’s self-proclaimed hero, mentor, and the one who plucked him from obscurity in the first place — so another appeal is in order.

narrator: "elminster's visit weighs heavy on your mind. his face you did not expect to see again." narrator: "when you last saw him, you were in your prime. no orb, no tadpole. a mage of growing renown, all power, pride, and potential - beloved by the goddess of magic herself. narrator: "it's one thing to have fallen from such heights, but to have elminster himself now witness your humiliation is almost unbearable." gale: [his disappointment cuts deeper even than mystra's. he was your hero.] narrator: "while most know of elminster the legend, few know him as you have. he plucked you from obscurity. offered you his guidance. his faith. and most recently, his pity."

yet it is curious how quickly she changes her tune once gale doesn’t readily agree to her demand to return the crown of karsus to her, no questions asked. or even dares to impugn, or criticize her reasoning for leaving him to die.

gale: "a great ask indeed. you've given me much to think on - as you always did." mystra: "so be it. follow the needles of your own wisdom. we shall see how truly it leads you."

gale: "because i disobeyed you. you punished me for it." mystra: "how so? you think i should have cured you? erased the consequences of your actions?"

gale: "you break up with me, cut me off from the weave, leave me to die, and that's all you have to say? 'you look well'?" mystra: "i did not come here to suffer a mortal's admonitions. certainly not yours."

gale: "you were threatened. you realised you couldn't control me." mystra: "you were many things to me, but never a threat. and never a saviour." nodecontext: sharper, almost a warning - don't entertain such thoughts, gale. you won't like where they lead.

gale: "i don't know. i need time to think." mystra: "so be it. follow the needle of your own wisdom. we shall see how truly it leads you."

particularly interesting to note is how she uses his surname as a tool to chastise and taunt him. only referring to him as "gale dekarios" in the context of him displeasing her, when he doesn't readily obey, whether he simply wavers (needing time to think) or outright declines her instructions. she uses the very name he had actively discarded and refuses to be referred to at this point in time. a deliberate reminder of his fallible humanity, of the flaws he tried to distance himself from. she knows this.

gale: "i won't let you down again. when the absolute is vanquished, i will surrender karsus' powers to you. you have my word." mystra: "thank you. may the weave's light guide your purpose, and it's wisdom guide your hand." mystra: "the future of magic rests on your shoulders, gale of waterdeep". mystra: "i promise you - it is a burden you are strong enough to bear."

gale: "i don't need your forgiveness. the crown of karsus will be mine, and the karsite weave will obey me." mystra: "crown yourself, gale dekarios, and you will learn what it is to carry such weight upon your shoulders." mystra: "if it does not crush you, i will." nodecontext: an icy edge entering her voice - a hint of a challenge gale will face if he pursues this course. nodecontext: here we glimpse the true, unimaginable power of mystra. she's still in control of herself, but her anger should be palpable.

i have already addressed the overall topic of mystra & gale's relationship in several posts i wrote some time ago [x] [x] [x]. however, since then we have received new snippets of information with patch 5 that shed more light on the progression of their relationship as a whole. this post is intended to be an update of sorts, containing a more comprehensive list, as well as lore excerpts for added context and proof. i will split this essay into several sections for coherency — buckle in, cause this is going to be a long one!

✧ mystra's history of manipulation ✧

one of the epilogue letters revealed that elminster first sought gale out when he was about 8 years old. which according to gale's canon age being 35 (as listed on his idle champions character sheet) means that their first meeting occurred around 1465 DR. although elminster's wording suggests that this may merely be an estimate on his side.

furthermore - in the ending where gale dies in the attempt at ascension, raphael has the following to say:

raphael: "you were the spark of ambition that rekindled gale's ambitions, after mystra had so cleverly put them to rest."

insinuating that mystra did make an active effort to keep gale in line, to temper his ambition, lest his thirst for more knowledge would eventually prove bothersome for her. keeping an eye on him at all times, keeping him close, placating him, and urging him to be patient.

what distinctly stood out to me is how this also aligns with some of azuth's quotes in the temptation of elminster, while he gives advice to a then-young sage of shadowdale.

we are her treasures, lad—we are what she holds most dear, the rocks she can cling to in the storms of wild art. she needs us to be strong, far stronger than most mortals ... tempered tools for her use. being bound to us by love and linked to us to preserve her very humanity, she finds it hard to be harsh to us—to do the tempering that must be done. she began the tempering of you long ago; you are her 'pet project', if you will. [...]

"you serve mystra differently. she watches you and learns the human side of magic in all it's hues from your experiences and the doings of those you meet—foes and friends alike. yet the time has come for you to change, and grow, to serve as she'll need you to, in the centuries ahead."

and yet again, there is a reoccurring pattern in her relationship with sammaster, another of her chosen, as well:

sammaster fell to his knees and wept upon mystra's feet. they ended up spending ten days together. this made him the first chosen of mystra since the seven sisters. when he asked for the reason that mystra had chosen him, she replied that she had foreseen that one of her chosen would be killed in battle, and he would be the replacement. he left this encounter feeling as though he and mystra were in love.

mystra is no stranger to fostering feelings of boundless devotion that weren't present before. observing her potential chosen, appearing before them, promising them power. luring them into service without the knowledge of what this may entail. where other gods may instill fear, mystra instills the notion of love. practicing seduction while mirroring her chosen's humanity. intentionally portraying herself as someone sympathetic and approachable. syncing their language, highlighting mutuality, making them feel favored and seen. mystra sees no need in the act of divine separation, a display of godlike grandeur — inimitable, menacing, larger than life, towering above her chosen. instead, her manifestation is purposefully unassuming. she meets them in the form of a woman in her early 30s, conventionally attractive, palpable, and appealing to the masses — a human figure. the very embodiment, the very ideal of traditional beauty an impressionable, young wizard may have.

gale: "i can't quite describe it, the need i sometimes feel to see her - to draw the filaments of fantasy into existence." gale: "no sculpture or painting could ever do her justice, only the fabric that she herself is and embodies."

gale: "in her likeness, i used to read a thousand stories. she was beauty, wisdom, elegance, power... she contained universes."

player: “what did mystra’s attention feel like?” gale: “love. [...] perhaps it was not quite love, but you see, the wizard was but a very young man. it was most certainly love to him. [...]"

how we see her in the game is very likely the same form she chose to present to a young gale. beauty, wisdom, elegance. perceived perfection, yet humble in her divinity.

the mystra of now (1490s DR) retains some of the memories of all of her earlier selves, and the relatively young and inexperienced midnight is “in there,” but wholly subsumed. mystra could generate an avatar or seeming that might fool some mortals into thinking they were meeting midnight, but it would be an act. [x]

generating an avatar in the form of a mortal she subsumed. purporting mutuality. midnight was just another mortal added to mystra's long list of "human stock" — vessels intended to preserve her power. favored, chosen, and ultimately suppressed by the very essence of mystra herself. midnight is no equal piece of mystra, the deity, there is no conscious part of the mortal that remains. [x] the mystra that currently exists is a union of the original mystryl, as well as all the other reincarnations of her that melded into her being. fragments of their minds that linger in the weave, scraps of humanity that could perhaps aid in her knowledge and understanding to prevent further betrayals in the future.

mystra's approach has always been indirect, instead of being outright menacing and portentous. the fact that mystra isn't written like the other gods in the game doesn't mean she's more sympathetic to gale's struggles or more inclined to understand human nature. her concern will always be the preservation of her domain and her hold over the weave — to do as the gods do.

gale: "you're one to talk. how many innocents were you prepared to sacrifice if i detonated the orb?" mystra: "such eddies are unexceptional. souls arrive and depart your plane with every tide, in circumstances just and unjust." nodecontext: matter of fact, not interested in these kinds of specifics

ketheric thorm: "who decides what is right? the gods did not care for right and wrong when they dismantled my life piece by piece." ketheric thorm: "and when i tried to buy it back, it cost me everything - everything." ketheric thorm: "we are copper pieces in their belts. tokens to be traded for scraps."

it is often mentioned that mystra makes her attention known by brushing against her potential chosen. whispering to them, touching their skin, eliciting a tingling sensation. which is also how mystra chose to reveal herself to ariel manx (midnight) in 1353 DR, while she was 21 years of age.

gale mentions feeling a similar sensation if he chooses to destroy the summoning circle in balthazar's office at moonrise and thereby receives her blessing.

gale: "did you feel that?" gale: "if i wasn't surrounded on all sides by the darkness of the shadow-cursed lands, i'd think it was mystra herself brushing against my skin."

mystra isn't above using manipulations to get her way. once again evident in her instigating dornal and elué silverhand's union in the first place, as well as intentionally withholding information from dornal that she actively took possession of his wife, elué. to ensure that they would indeed produce her offspring — the seven sisters — her chosen and the vessels to house her power.

where elué had previously been reluctant to acknowledge dornal's advances, he found them suddenly returned with great fervor once mystra took possession of her body. [x]

"by the time elué was carrying her final child, she was in effect a lich - a crumbling shell kept alive only through mystra's power. dornal was shocked at her deterioration. he sought magical aid to cure his wife, and when he learned from the most powerful priest he could find that his wife was possessed by an intelligent force of great power, a sickened dornal tried to slay her. he struck off her head one moonlight night as they walked together in a wooded glade. mystra was forced to reveal herself. dornal was shattered by what he had done, and aghast at how he - and especially elué - had been used." [x]

dornal, who had been kept in the dark throughout, abandoned his lands and children after slaying his wife, traveling to the north, with the plan to seek his own death. he repeatedly tried to poison himself, yet mystra wouldn't allow him suicide and magically neutralized the lethal doses to keep him alive against his will. after his death in 797 DR, mystra turned him into another servant of hers: the watcher — one who wanders the realms, seeking out new potential chosen to this day.

which brings us to...

✧ mystra's foresight and her "death" ✧

mystra possesses a degree of foresight - she foresaw the time of troubles and her own passing at the hands of helm in 1358 DR for defying him and her attempt to converse with the overgod ao without the tablets of fate. the very reason why she sought out mortal vessels to house her power (the seven sisters) — to avoid disaster should another entity win control over her in the chaotic period of wildly fluctuating power struggles that was the time of troubles. this divine power slumbers within these individuals, which she can call upon.

in 1385 DR mystra (midnight) was struck down by cyric and shar, which brought upon the spellplague.

in 1479 DR mystra was located by elminster inside a cave in cormyr, guarding her mortal body. she survived cyric's assassination by inhabiting the body of a bear, while still able to contact her chosen. she returned to her full power in 1487 DR.

the important part, that i've often seen outright ignored or misinterpreted by fandom altogether, is that mystra wasn’t actually “dead” for over a hundred years. at least not in the way we perceive it. we can’t equate her death with our mortal understanding of it. her powers were diminished to an extreme and she was weakened, yet she was still able to communicate. it was in her power to contact her chosen and to guide them. evident by her calling for elminster through her telepathic link and directing him to recruit other chosen for her to restore her power.

the plot of baldur’s gate 3 takes place in 1492 DR. meaning gale's actual year of birth would be 1457 DR. while elminster likely sought him out around 1465 DR, when he was only 8 years old. however, i once again want to emphasize that “couldn’t have been more than 8 summers old” indicates that this may merely be an estimate on elminster's side. he could’ve possibly reached out to him even earlier than that, or perhaps later. gale was 22 year old at the time when mystra was found in her diminished state by elminster in 1479 DR.

✧ mystra's awareness✧

gale: “so, all it took to get mystra’s attention was to learn how to reforge an artifact that once destroyed her." gale: "it's obvious, when you stop to think about it."

even if you may personally be skeptical of elminster’s insertion into gale’s life at age 8 (as well as mystra's ability to contact her chosen during her death) to be enough evidence of mystra’s attention — she had to be aware of him for his talents alone since he was a mere child. there is no way around this.

player: "how could she possibly know we read a book? hasn't she got more important things to worry about?" gale: "the weave is a highly sensitive magical network threaded through all life on this plane. any shift in magical energy, no matter how small, is akin to a beacon, alerting mystra to its cause." gale: "opening a book like the annals of karsus was akin to us shooting a firework spelling 'look at us, mystra!' directly into the skies of elysium. she knows."

mystra IS the weave, as gale himself has stated several times. it is an extension of her being, threaded through all life. by touching the weave one is directly touching the goddess of magic herself. mystra is aware of any magic user, able to deepen this contact at her choosing.

shadowheart: "isn't it so, that every time you speak as you cast a spell, you're endeavouring to call upon mystra?" shadowheart: "i'm surprised she still listens to you." gale: "she has no choice - she's sworn to hear all magic users. even me." gale: "i'm sure she at least stuffs her fingers in her ears to muffle my invocations."

gale described himself as a child prodigy. a virtuoso that was able to manipulate and compose the weave at will from an early age.

gale: "magic is... my life. i've been in touch with the weave for as long as i can remember. there's nothing like it."

gale: "i'm what one might call a wizard prodigy, who from an early age could not only control the weave, but compose it, much like a musician or a poet."

gale: "such was my skill that it earned me the attention of the mother of magic herself. the lady of mysteries. the goddess mystra." gale: "she revealed herself to me and she became my teacher. in time, she became my muse, and later, even my lover."

someone who was able to perform feats way beyond the skillset of his peers. he managed to wield the blackstaff itself, accidentally facing an irritated death slaad, and lived to tell the tale. he summoned and befriended tara, as well as the magma mephit, k'ha'ssji'trach'ash. we also know from elminster that he was able to cast fireball — a 3rd level spell — at age 8.

it is indisputable that mystra must’ve taken notice of the precocious young wizard during this time, even in her diminished state. much like she had once observed midnight. she began to whisper to him, drawing back the veils, revealing herself bit by bit, urging him that he was special — chosen.

gale: "he fancied himself much more than that. he fancied himself favoured above all others. [...] mystra showed him the secrets behind the veils. the gossamer veils first, draped across the weave. the delicate veils next, draped across her body. ‘chosen one’ she whispered, as she slipped them off completely."

✧ final part: power imbalance & exerting control ✧

gale: "the weave is still here, all around us - inside of us too. as long as the goddess lives, magic is a tangible thing for those who know how to touch." gale: "i've studied magic for many years, and in as many ways i am still a more than capable wizard." gale: "it's just that i'm no longer able to perform those feats even arch wizards would marvel at." gale: " to have one hand on the pulse of divinity." gale: "you have to remember that the weave is a living thing, both the embodiment and the extension of mystra herself." gale: "she can give and she can take away. i'm afraid i'm still very much on her naughty list."

gale: "mystra commands all magic. salvation, if such a thing exists, is hers to bestow or withhold." gale: "and yet, even now, more than i fear losing my own self and soul, i fear losing my command of her art."

player: "he sounds like a very talented individual." gale: "he was. even though it was in mystra’s affections that his true power lay."

even apart from their innate different forms of existence as a mere mortal and the literal goddess of magic, mystra is in full control of gale's power at all times, able to grant and withdraw her favors at will. claiming that such a power imbalance doesn’t exist, that it doesn’t apply to their respective relationship, that it might’ve been “healthy” at one point if gale was indeed of age at the time their relationship transitioned into a sexual nature is —pardon my french— fucking insane.

this stance disregards everything we know about the gods, about mystra’s involvement with other mortals and her chosen. it disregards the level of authority she wields over any magic user. it carelessly and naively disregards the implicit difference in power. mystra is the goddess of magic, his goddess. the very object of his worship and adoration since childhood. the goddess he devoted his life, his work, and his unyielding loyalty to. it is ultimately irrelevant at what exact point their relationship underwent its final transition from muse to lover. this discussion is redundant. mystra has been a constant presence since his early childhood. his worship of her began with the practice of his first spells, even if it wasn't conscious at the time. every practitioner of magic inevitably honors mystra, regardless of their faith in her. magic is his life, in the same way that mystra is pure magic. she is in total control of the tools he wields.

✧ summary ✧

mystra possesses a degree of foresight, already knowing about the time of troubles & her subsequent passing. this being her reason to seek out mortal vessels to secure her power.

mystra feels any shift in magical energy no matter how small, immediately alerting her. gale was able to cast a third-level spell at age 8.

mystra has a history of instilling feelings of love that weren't present before and using her chosen/other mortals for her own means. (elminster, khelben, sammaster, the seven daughters, ariel manx etc.)

mystra's manifestation is a conscious choice. midnight has been wholly subsumed by her.

mystra wasn’t actually “dead” in 1479 DR, but merely diminished. she was inhabiting the body of a bear and was still able to communicate with her chosen. she directed elminster to recruit other chosen to restore her power.

elminster sought gale out around 1465 DR when he was about 8 years old, as stated in the epilogue letter.

mystra first functioned as gale’s mentor, then his muse, and later his lover.

gale’s relationship with her was indeed of a sexual nature, he has explicitly stated so several times. their intimacy wasn't restricted to incorporeal interactions either, even though they were preferred.

during the ending where gale fails to ascend raphael states during the credits that tav has “rekindled gale’s ambitions after mystra had so cleverly put them to rest”.

azuth describes mystra's chosen as "tempered tools for her use". being bound to them by love and linked to them to preserve her very humanity.

mystra's intention to shape gale into yet another loyal, devoted asset to her portfolio has been there from the very moment she chose to reveal herself, to instruct elminster to seek him out. it was a conscious decision to directly insert herself into gale’s life, sowing his conviction that he was favored above all others. singling him out among his peers, isolating him with subtle promises of his greatness, his uniqueness, and all he could yet accomplish to be under her guidance. offering him her teachings, her inspiration, and eventually her love. yet all the while tempering his perceived greed and thirst to reach for even greater heights, unless it acted in her favor. keeping him close — lest his growing ambitions should ever prove to be an outright challenge to her rule.

the groundwork has been carefully laid from the very beginning.

gale: “goodnight. and thank you for your patient understanding. [...] try not to think too poorly of me. a cat can look at a king. a wizard can look at a goddess.”

[callmewisteria]

Norm is absolutely one of my favourite characters in the Fallout universe. The fact he loves his family and wants what's best for them being what drives him to look for the truth of what has happened to them and why is fantastic. The ultimate difference between him and Chet, too, is a great show of his character. It began with him choosing to help his sister find their father and ends with him coming to the same realisation as she has – their father was not the man he said he was and much of their life has been a lie. Watching him decide to take the hunt for the truth into his own hands, even when it could be the end of him, is incredibly compelling.

What makes Norm so enjoyable to watch, too, is just how human he is. All of the characters in the show are that way, which is part of what makes it great (yes, even the ghouls as they were at one time human). The distress he feels at seeing what happened to Vault 32 being swept under the rug, and the anger he feels towards Betty and the others for doing it seemingly out of a desire for control and power more than anything else is tangible. The fact it drives him to take the risk of sneaking into Vault 31 shows his bold and couregous side, and also that it's driven by not only his own curiosities but his desire for the truth. It’s a great parallel trait he shares with Lucy and, as she comes to find out, their mother. The anger he feels towards his father and also the desperation he feels to survive are a great contrast of his truth seeking and his baser humanity.

All things considered, Norm's competing feelings of a desire for truth, a desire for safety, curiosity, and a love for his family are what make him a great character. The fact he shares those traits with Lucy but expresses them in different ways creates a strong parallel narrative for their characters, and also does a great job showing the two sides of courage. The fact neither he or Lucy are impervious or shy away from moments of weakness and subsiming emotion latch onto the naivety from their upbringing and also their humanity. With them both now having to reckon with the truth about their father, a reunion between them will I'm sure be great and also remind them that not all of their family members are bad. Reckoning with the truth about their mother and Lucy's love for her being what compelled her to end her suffering before breaking down at the gravity of it is another layer of complexity to their family dynamics that both of them will need time to sit with. The contrasting feelings of how they knew their father versus what they've come to learn about him serve well to separate them from others like Chet; where he, their cousin, chooses to remain wilfully ignorant, they chose to put aside their fears and look for a truth they knew was out there.

Chet is a coward because he chooses to ignore the truth he has seen with his own eyes.

Lucy is brave because she is willing to go to any and all lengths to find her father and is then willing to end the suffering her mother is under because of him; she is openly emotional and driven by that and the love she feels for her family and is horrified and shattered by her father being a different man than the one she had always known.

Norm is brave because he is willing to do anything for his sister and father and, when faced with the choice to stay in blissful ignorance, because he chooses to seek out the truth even when it could hurt him; he, too, doesn't shy away from the pain the truth about his father causes him and, like Lucy, has to learn to live with the competing memories of their father and the reality of who and what he is.

Hank is a coward because, while he goes to the extremes to attempt to preserve himself and his family, he refuses to accept the fact his actions have consequences for the way his children (and, previously, their mother) had seen him and instead tries to force things to go back to the way they were before his children could learn of his ability to be selfish.

And Rose was brave because she loved her children so much that she would and did do everything for them, even when she had to put her love for their father aside and risk herself so that she and her children could have a chance to live in truth rather than lies. Her children share that with her, even though they didn't know it, just as much as they share her love, empathy, and desire for the truth even when living in wilful ignorance could have been easier.

Tl;dr – the entire MacLean family being driven by love for each other but expressing it in different ways that ultimately drive them apart is not only great at showcasing the different sides of courage and cowardice but showing the way Lucy and Norm are so similar and are driven by their love for their family just as much as their desire for the truth and that neither Lucy or Norm shy away from their emotional and impulsive reactions to it presents them as not only fully human but two sides of the same coin; they are both couregous even though they take two different paths to the truth.

[flamingpudding]

Fictober23 Prompt: 21 - "Just in case this doesn't work."

Fandom: DPxDC

Rating: T

Warnings: -

A/N: Inspired by this Post about Danny bullshiting his way by saying he is Tims future kid. Also once again posting this early, cause I need to destress tomorrow and not worry about writing or work or anything.

Edit: Thanks to @kisatamao in the comments I found the post again that inspired this and linked it!

"Chronus"

"Nowadays I go by Clockwork."

"Fine, Clockwork then."

"John Constantine."

The Ancient of Time and Justice League Dark members stared at each other blankly. Until the ruler of time smiled and Constantine sighed. "How is the time baby doing?"

"Very well. Your timeline is safe. There was an incident that could have possibly splittend the timeline again and in a way it did but the destruction timeline was once more prevented, by the child himself like I hoped for. Three times now."

Constantine grunted, lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag. "You know if Bats or any of his kids ever learn about this I will be the one to take the burn right?"

Clockwork only smiled a knowing smile and Constantine paled. "When?"

"Where is the fun if you knew. The little Drake has been quite unpredictable and entertaining." The Ancient mused floating around the room and Constantine's eyes narrowed.

"There won't be a paradox?"

Clockworks tilted his head with a mischievous smile on his face. "Well the timeline in which he was born no longer exists and his father of this time line has ceased his efforts in cloning. He never even got to the point of trying to combine his own DNA with the one he so desperately wanted to clone."

"I feel like I am hearing secrets I definitely do not want to know. Just tell me if this timeline is safe or not now."

"It is safe. Your timeline has now a true Ancient of Balance in the making and just in case this doesn't work, I have anchored Daniel's existence in this timeline with several means one of which was his own time clone created from a split of destruction line."

Constantine's eyes twitched. "For all of our sakes I hope Bats never finds out about this. If he ever learns that I replaced a still born with a grandson of his from a different destruction timeline… You know what, I am not nearly drunk enough for any of this mate!"

Clockwork chuckled, his eyes glinting with unhidden amusement. "Well John Constantine, would you like a word of advice?"

The JLD member took another long drag of his cigarette before flicking the butt of it somewhere to the side. "No riddle."

"When 17 turns to 4 it is not the grandfathers, you should fear."

"I said no riddles!" Constantine huffed as clockwork disappeared from his side. He brushed his hair with one hand, glaring at the spot where the Ancient of Time had been. He should have never agreed to help that damned being 15 years ago, having been somewhat of a beginner then John did not realize what kind of deal he had agreed on.

Now he wasn't sure if he should be relieved or fearful of the consequences. Especially now that he had worked with the Bat Family a couple of times already.

Exactly one year later Constantine decided he was fucking fearful!

Unknown to the Brite a lot of things can happen in three years. Like Parents turning on their child after accidentally learning about a truth. A teenager that was already hurt trying to salvage whatever peace he could.

—--

"Mom! Dad! I swear it's still me, Danny!"

"Give me back my baby boy you monster!"

—--

A governmental organisation committing mass genocide on an interdimensional species.

—--

"Ember, get out of here! Now!"

"Baby Pop! What about the others?!"

"Dan already released them! Get out of here! I will hold them off and keep them busy!"

—----

The interdimensional species try to convince said teenager fighting for them to forgo humanity.

—--

"Welp, this can't go on. No hunt is worth this much."

"Give it up already. The humans made their decision."

"They broke too many rules, it is time they suffer the consequences."

—--

A heavy conflicted ending with the teenager receding into its core and getting picked up by one of his papa from a different timeline.

—--

"What kind of crystal is that? It radiates a pretty strange but familiar energy."

"I wanna see! I wanna see!"

"If it's not dangerous, why not keep it?"

"It looks like there are snowflakes in it."

—--

The kid then reformed out of his core in his ghost age instead of human age with a green note appearing on his forehead. Said note confusing the kids papa making him contact the kids dad.

—--

"Tim you won't believe this…"

"Kon you sound weird, what is going on?"

"Remember that shiny crystal I picked up at the end of our last case?"

"The one with the snowflakes in it, yes."

"I think I just became a dad."

"WHAT?!"

—--

Which then led to the dad overanalyzing the note while the kid insisted that a certain ghost was involved. The child's grandparents then getting tipped off through the grandchild of the Ancient Constantine still curses in his mind.

—--

"So Pandora mentioned something to me."

"Hn."

"Have you tried asking Constantine about it? He is apparently in contact with a being that likes to write cryptic messages on green notes, or that's what Pandora told me at least."

"..."

"And your new grandchild came with such a note right?"

—--

And now John Constantine was fearing for his life, because Batman had tried to contact him several times now. Several times Constantine had found reasons to ignore. Only for the Bat to come knocking on his door -well more like rudely kicking it down- with fucking Super too! He was cursing up a storm internally and thinking of how best he could get out of whatever had crawled up the two hero's asses when right behind the two hero's stood another set of hero's he did not want to face especially when he noticed one of them holding a four years old toddler in his arms.

"Chronus you fucking asshole!" The Brite muttered to himself as the four hero's plus time baby stood before him demanding answers.

That was when the toddler piped up, eyes glowing a bright green. "So Clockwork does have something to do with this! I knew it!"

"Danny, sweetheart not now. You can tell us you were right after we figured out what timeline you are from and if we need to send you back or can keep you." Red Robin calmed the now pouting toddler Super Boy was holding and petting with a small chuckle. While Batman and Superman turned on Constantine.

[gremlingottoosilly]

Mafia!König with reader that’s has chronic pain

Konig knows about chronic pains and illnesses - he has quite a few army friends who are still suffering from the consequences of the service. He learned to be patient, never allowing his fidgeting and nervous nature to become a problem while handling something as delicate as an injured brother in arms - but all of those are getting lost when he sees you. Perfect, little, fragile you. You survived on your own before him, and you would probably be fine if he were to disappear from your life completely, but you won't be allowed to leave, unfortunately. You invited the attention of one of the most dangerous and mysterious men of Vienna, and now you have to suffer the consequences...although they are quite sweet. You're having bobyfuards, obviously - but Konig had to come quite a long time to find someone who is not just all muscles and no brain. He needed someone who could be gentle with his little songbird, who could pick you up when everything becomes too much and bring you back to him - while also being professional enough so he wouldn't have to cut their hands after. You're pretty and precious, and he hates seeing you in pain when your body takes too much, but there isn't much he can do, even if he wants so, desperately. You're pretty and cute and adorable and he needs you here, with him - he wants you here, so he drags you around when you can handle it. He can't help but be overprotective - he would fuck over anyone if that means his princess will be satisfied, and so just one tug on his sleeve is enough to make him leave the party or a meeting. None of his rivals like you - mostly because you're too protected to be used as a bait and also because your presence calms Konig down too much. He doesn't care about duck measuring and provocations if you're next to him, murmuring something about wanting to leave early so you could take your painkillers. You really are changing the mafia Konig - but not necessarily for the better. Just...even more convinced to only have his eyes on you.

[graylinesspam]

One thing i need you to understand about Fives (the way I write him) is that he is fundamentally a middle child that wants to be a cool older brother so bad. This man is hungry for attention. He wants all the young men too look up to him as the rebel older brother. And he wants all of the older men to look at him as the kick ass ARC trooper. He needs to be everyones favorite brother or he starts taking mental damage from the stress of not being liked.

He is not nearly as cool or as rebellious as he thinks he is though. He's stuck in the middle generation of clones. Not a gen one but not young enough to understand what it was like to be a cadet on Kamino during the war. He doesn't get the new slang, and he's only just learned the old slang.

He remembers learning the old operating system just in time for it to be replaced, and he wore the old style of armor but barely got the chance to paint it before they made the switch.

In his drive to be so cool and so well liked and so looked up to, he will do some truly hilarious bullshit. He will make a fool of himself. And he will laugh it off. But he is not easy going at all. And one sure fire way to set him off is to be more of a rebel or a rule breaker than he is.

This man has spent his whole life having to listen to Echo explain the reg manual front to back. He knows what he can and cant get away with. And if you try some shit that's gonna have real consequences??? he is gonna be up your ass like swamp water. You pull some shit that might actually get somebody hurt? you will not be able to escape him.

He is the cool, ranks don't matter, The war is stupid, Sure i'll let you hit my smoke brother. He will cover your ass if whatever you did was funny enough. But if you make him actually have to be responsible, he's gonna make you suffer for it.

He is also arguably one of the most attached to Ahsoka. Like easily top three clones who are just unwell about her. Being her favorite vod is a very real priority for him. He is the "you want me to kill that guy for you. cuz i'd totally kill that guy for you." brother for her. Ahsoka is seeking approval from everyone other clone and Fives is on the sidelines with a pompom and a foam finger cheering her on. He ADORES her.

which puts him in a really awkward position when Ahsoka is the one actually doing stupid shit and getting herself in trouble because his brain buffers so hard trying to figure out how to respond. His whole program freezes and Echo is usually the one that steps in and pats Ahsoka on the back. And tells her to stop doing that shit.

Echo loves her too but he's a bit more of an actually chill chaos entity and isn't quite as overprotective.

If they were to catch Ahsoka like idk, Smoking, Fives would legitimately not be able to speak a whole sentence.

mans would be like "AHSOKA! You-...Those are-...That's not-....NO!"

meanwhile Echo *sigh*"C'mon 'soka, rule number one is don't get caught." *shakes head in dissapointment*

Cue Fives "NO!" but at Echo this time.

[xiaowhore]

scribbled hearts.

premise. alhaitham learns to stop falling asleep in places that aren't his bed the hard way. (alternatively, in which the librarian doesn't follow the script to wake sleeping beauty.)

Kaveh finds Alhaitham furiously scrubbing his face in the bathroom.

At first, he's absolutely ecstatic. For all that Alhaitham refuses to practice skincare, he's never gotten a zit on his face. An earth-shattering revelation to Kaveh, who maintains a strict nightly skincare routine—he's never gone to sleep without a moisturizing facemask. It's not the most infuriating thing about his roommate, but it annoys him that a guy who only washes his face in the morning has clearer skin than he does.

Is this it? Is Alhaitham receiving retribution at last? Is he finally suffering the consequences of his carelessness?!

But when Kaveh cranes his neck to get a better look at Alhaitham's face, he doesn't see any of the sort.

“Dude...” Kaveh can't even laugh due to sheer incredulity, staring at Alhaitham with a pitying look. Alhaitham thinks it would be less irritating if he just laughed in his face. “Did a third-grader pick on you?”

Alhaitham grits his teeth, wiping the remnants of ink on his face. He's mostly gotten rid of the sparkly anime eyes you drew over his eyelids, but it still looks like a fading black eye. The blush lines on his cheeks are a work in progress, but they'll disappear with some effort.

“They have the maturity of one, at least.”

Alhaitham has met his fair share of librarians—there's the stern, no-nonsense kind he's gotten forehead flicks from every time he's caught dozing off on his thesis paper; the introverted bookish type who stutters as they nervously but firmly tell him off for hogging all the books a certain class needs for a report; the motherly sort who smuggles him coffee in his all-nighters when he looks like death itself...

And then there's you.

Cheekier than his brat of a roommate, you somehow manage to annoy him like nobody else can. He'd rather have you scold him for treating the library as a second bedroom than clip ribbons to his hair whenever you catch him sleeping. Hell, he'd take a skull-shattering forehead flick over doodles on his face any day. But even if he preaches his troubles to anyone willing to listen, they're never sympathetic.

Because for some reason, you're never like this to anyone else.

If anyone at campus were asked to describe you, they'll say you're a model student. Scholarly, courteous, standing tall with dignified grace; you're the perfect picture of a goody-two-shoes. Nothing like the childish brat who terrorizes his nap schedule on a daily basis.

People who have a vendetta against him is nothing new. What he doesn't understand, however, is what he did to be the object of your wrath.

“Maybe [Name] likes you. Kind of like how boys bully the girl they like,” is the ridiculous answer Kaveh gives him, dropping those words like they weigh nothing with a nonchalant shrug. Alhaitham would think it more likely for the reverse to be true; your insistence to dedicate your time into ruining his day is nothing short of admiration—surely a testament to just how much you hate him.

...Okay, so maybe Alhaitham could guess a few things for why. There's been a handful of times (read: it happens at least thrice a week) he kept you stationed at the library longer than you had to be because he fell asleep until closing hours, and he has a tendency to forget returning the materials he borrows for his thesis to the library...

So. Perhaps this was a consequence of his actions after all.

He argues that there are far more mature methods to resolve this issue, though.

Alhaitham stares at the crudely drawn portrait scrawled on his arm, deeply unimpressed. Although he's not one to boast about his looks, he's rather sure he isn't as much of an eyesore as you drew him to be, his nose an exaggerated point (a literal triangle) and his lips wide open as he drools, dangerously close to the rectangles he guesses are supposed to be books. Don't sleep on the reference books!! You'll get drool all over them >:(, reads the scribbled letters beside the portrait, an angry face scrawled haphazardly next to them.

(Still, by the corner of his eye, he spots a cup of his usual order of coffee, a neon pink sticky note pasted on the lid: Wake up and finish your report quickly, I have a show to catch at 8 :>

It would be easier to hate you if being bratty is all there is to your personality, really.)

You scribble all over your notes.

It's a fact Alhaitham has known about you since long ago. Everything else about you is neat and orderly, but every page of your notebook has some sort of doodle on the corners. They range from meticulous side-profiles of whoever sits beside you that day to meaningless hearts and smiley faces akin to what a five-year-old child might make.

If you've chosen to be more artistic for the doodles you draw all over him, perhaps Alhaitham might not mind as much. It's unfortunate you much rather prefer drawing exaggerated tear streaks on his face.

“I'm quite certain this is a form of harassment,” Alhaitham grumbles, rubbing his face with makeup remover. As pointless as it is to express his woes to the cause of said woes, he finds himself seated before the reception desk to keep you company anyway. “I don't understand why you're still doing this.”

“It's a punishment for falling asleep and keeping me holed up in here to guard the library until it closes,” you drone, fixing the library cards. “And yet you still refuse to stop. Is it really so hard to go to the dormitory instead?”

Alhaitham shrugs. A sigh inevitably escapes your lips.

Eventually, you run out of stupid things to draw on his skin whenever you catch him sleeping.

You start to write your shopping list on his arm instead.

“Why on earth would you need three cartons of eggs?” Alhaitham leans against the desk you're stationed at, reading the bulletpoints on his skin.

Eventually, Alhaitham gets used to scrubbing off your vandalism too. It's his personal brand of skincare.

“They're on sale today,” you reply, signing the papers requesting new stocks of books. “And I was planning on baking, so it's better I have plenty of ingredients for trial and error.”

“Sounds heavy,” he hums, eyes scanning the rest of your list. “Want me to come with?”

At that, your pen stops moving. “...Why?”

“I need to buy cereal.”

(No he doesn't. Kaveh went on a grocery run yesterday.)

“Sure, I guess...?” It's an unexpected development, but you wouldn't turn away an extra pair of hands. “Should we get going, then?”

“Yeah.”

You raise an eyebrow. “...But you didn't borrow a book today yet. Aren't you getting anything first?”

Alhaitham looks around. “The book I wanted isn't here, so I suppose I still have to wait a few days for it.”

“What is it?” You click your pen, reaching for your notepad. (You already have one of those, Alhaitham seriously sees no point in you writing down your grocery list on his arm.) “I'll tell you when it gets returned.”

“...No, it's fine. Let's go, the eggs you wanted might be all gone if we take our time getting there.”

You jolt up in alarm, slinging your bag over your shoulder. “You're right, we should hurry!”

For all it's worth, you're pretty gullible.

“You're still keeping that up?”

Alhaitham looks up from his laptop, fingers halting in their movement. “What do you mean?”

Kaveh scrunches his nose, pointing at the scribbles on his palm. “Your weird mating ritual. Can't you two communicate like normal people?”

Alhaitham glances at the mess you've made of his arm, full of little messages and doodles you wrote back and forth to each other during Biology period. Alhaitham had been, perhaps for the first time, not feeling drowsy. Regardless, you've taken to treating his skin as paper (“Save the trees,” you told him once, ignoring the disbelieving expression on his face), and Alhaitham has already accepted that you won't stop doing it as long as you still find it amusing.

“We do talk. Normally.”

“And if you do, why are you still doing... that.”

Alhaitham doesn't have anything to say to that. He did think it was inconvenient to wash all the messages off, and there are far more practical modes of communication.

But for some reason, he can't find it in himself to say that he outright dislikes it.

And maybe he traces the shapes you draw on his skin, in the private confines of his room where no one can see him. Maybe he admires the smooth strokes of your penmanship, the adorable curls of your letters, the bubbly font that always makes him chuckle because it's just so like you.

There are hearts sometimes, or even flowers when you feel like drawing something more detailed. The ugly sketches of him sleeping are somewhat annoying, but he still finds himself endeared. Though some things are appallingly inaccurate—you've done his nose a horrible injustice more than once—he notices the correct placement of beauty marks on his face, the sharp edges of his eyes, the meticulous dimple that faintly appears when he smiles.

A thrill runs through him when he thinks of you paying attention to him, more than you've ever given anyone else.

And, well. Alhaitham's certain he's been doing plenty of that for you.

“Don't you think you're being unfair?”

You pause in your typing, averting your eyes from the computer monitor to glance at Alhaitham. “Unfair in what, exactly?”

He mindlessly spins a pen with his fingers, staring at the blank canvas that was your arm compared to the sketchbook you've made out of his. “You're the only one who writes on me.”

“What, you want to write your shopping list on me for a change?” you arch up an eyebrow, unperturbed. “I thought you said it was impractical.”

“I never said I wanted to write my shopping list.”

“What else would you write, then?”

Alhaitham reaches for your arm. “Give me your hand.”

You blink, not quite unwilling yet confused all the same. You offer your hand and he uncaps his pen, scribbling on your palm. You've never been on the receiving end of this little game, so you're not sure what to expect from him.

“There.” Satisfied, he lets go and stands up. “I'm going home for the day. Good luck with the rest of your shift.”

“See you tomorrow, I guess...?” you wave at him in farewell, but he's quick to spring on his feet and dart out the door. “What's his deal...”

You turn over your hand, seeing a string of numbers written in neat font.

“Oh.”

Alhaitham feels silly for anticipating a text like some lovestruck teenage girl who exchanged numbers with her crush.

The blinking cursor on his blank essay document almost looks mocking, and as time passes by, the only word he's managed to type out is “The.” Even so, his attention is completely locked on his phone, devoid of any notifications.

If it weren't for Kaveh being nosy the other day, he wouldn't have gotten the idea of giving you his number. He did think something had to change, but he didn't know how to get there. But now that he's gotten this far, he can expect a little bit, right?

At last, his phone chimes its long awaited notification. Alhaitham is quick to ditch his laptop and shuts it closed, reaching for his phone where it sits on his desk. He swears he's never typed his password so fast before in his life.

Unfortunately, the text he's been anticipating for a good portion of the day is nothing but a disappointment.

Unknown number: eggs milk whipping cream flour

Unknown number: baking powder cocoa powder vanilla extract sugar

What was he expecting anyway?

He sighs and leans back on his chair, solemly pushing his laptop open. He doubts this message requires a response back.

Another notification lights his phone.

This time, Alhaitham doesn't even have the energy to unlock his screen. He squints at the notification preview.

Unknown number: wanna come over when I finish baking the souffles?

He doesn't quite drop his phone in shock, but it's a near thing.

You: I'll go carry the groceries too.

Unknown number: thanks! 💖

[bisclavret]

like many who have suffered at the hands of bbc merlin before me, i recently indulged in a thought experiment in which i outlined my own version of seasons 3-5 that stay thematically and tonally in line with the show (except they're less fucking stupid). but then i quickly realized that focusing on details is pointless: all you need is to solve the one Big Problem the show has, and the rest will follow. the problem in question? ✨morgana✨

i like the first two seasons. s1 achieves what it sets out to do and has fun while doing it, and s2, while flawed, sets up a ton of potential that the following seasons unfortunately squander, beginning with the insidious season 3. you can only distract me with cute knights and goblins and fart jokes for so long before i start seeing through you, evil, evil season of television.

my hypothesis is that if the writers had crafted s3 morgana into anything more sympathetic than a violent half-alive poltergeist that can never be reasoned with because she's suddenly terminally off her rocker, everything would've fallen into place. a sympathetic morgana would've made real, valid arguments against uther (and arthur) that wouldn't just be the ramblings of a woman possessed. her betrayal of arthur would have stemmed from her feeling increasingly morally superior to him because of his complacency in the face of their father's tyranny. under morgause's guidance she would stop believing that arthur is capable of change, and the whole point would be that she might actually be right. arthur would have to actively try and prove her wrong, instead of getting praised for doing the bare minimum because the bar is on the floor.

furthermore, morgana's prophetic dream about arthur and gwen becoming king and queen and her decision to prevent this however she can is a direct parallel to merlin learning about that same prophecy and making it happen by any means necessary. merlin's desires about his and arthur's futures are subtextually fueled by gay love and devotion, so why couldn't morgana's be? why couldn't she properly express her bitterness that arthur gets to be with gwen in a way she can't "took gwen away" from her, instead of suddenly declaring that gwen is nothing more than a servant, after two seasons of demonstrating again and again that she loves, values, and respects gwen more than anyone else in that godforsaken castle?

following this, an angry and emotionally volatile but still sensible morgana asking gwen to stay by her side during the coup of the castle in the s3 finale and gwen going behind her back to help arthur and the knights would've hurt like a bitch. double-sided betrayal! gwen having a real plot! the proper beginnings of a toxic yuri that would shape a generation!

then there's the utter hubris of having morgana shoot arrows at the same civilians she worried herself sick over for 2 seasons — even morgan, her medieval counterpart that was rooted in every sexist trope in existence, doesn't just go around killing senselessly but instead has (often petty!) personal vendettas against gwen, arthur, and the knights. morgana had every right to be sick of the pretensions around chivalry in camelot (she was always quick to mock it, even in s1), and to lash out at the knights and soldiers after years of feeling powerless in a castle full of armed men that blindly followed her oppressor. the show conveniently forgets that morgana was victimized as a woman as well as a sorcerer those first 2 seasons.

but like i said, this is not just about morgana. allowing her to remain a real and multifaceted character even as she betrays everyone in pursuit of her ambitions would've given the rest of the core four more interesting conflict to work with: merlin because he would have to experience real consequences to his actions, arthur because he would watch his sister go against his father (and his knights, and his birthright) and experience some actual internal dilemmas about it, and gwen because she would be forced to choose between morgana and arthur without the pretense that it's an obvious or easy choice for her to make.

even morgause and gaius would come off more interesting as mentors: neither one inherently evil or inherently good, both jaded by events that happened before our protagonists were even born, both heavily influencing morgana and merlin into fulfilling roles that they think are appropriate, but that morgana and merlin may not have chosen for themselves had they not been under their care.

you get the gist. if the show followed its own setup, morgana's mistakes wouldn't lie in cheap and senseless acts of violence but in alienating the people she loves because she is too hurt and jaded to trust them. meanwhile, everybody else would feel guilt over "failing" her and yet they would be too caught up in their own (sometimes flawed!) beliefs of right and wrong to truly see her point of view.

arthur would convince himself it was sorcery that corrupted her. merlin would know that isn't true but he wouldn't be able to argue without confessing everything, which is the defining conflict between him and morgana and it's cheapened when she's just an evil witch caricature and merlin is framed as inherently virtuous in contrast. gwen, too, would become a more active participant in her own life by choosing arthur over morgana and choosing to rule camelot with him instead of just waiting politely to see where things go.

and, of course, uther's downfall and death would be quick, final, and completely earned — when and why did the show even decide he of all people was the sympathetic villain, anyway?

lastly, and perhaps controversially, i think morgana should've learned merlin's true identity by season 4. her being the first of the main characters to find out makes perfect sense considering their shared history and their interconnected and mirrored arcs. even the show seems to agree, considering she does find out a little before arthur. but the narrative itself tried pointing flashing neon arrows towards this way earlier — there is a whole entire episode in s4 where merlin being emrys is repeatedly spelled out for morgana and she still isn't allowed to see it. that episode makes her look like the stupidest person to ever live, which is pretty funny im not gonna lie, but also another frustrating thing in the endless string of frustrating things that make up this show.

morgana learning that merlin has magic would've transformed the source of merlin's anxiety from a crippling fear of being outed someday to the crippling fear of knowing she could out him at any moment. this would make him want to beat her to the punch (perhaps he'd consider killing her for a minute and decide against it because she isn't a cartoonishly insane evil person in my version of events) and maybe he would even feel some tentative excitement at the idea of coming clean, now that it seems inevitable. after all, he always intended to tell arthur eventually! and i think gaius would have to admit outright that he does not want merlin to tell arthur he has magic because he, gaius, simply cannot risk such a gamble. it would be so interesting to see gaius and merlin clash and disagree once it becomes obvious that it's not merlin that isn't ready for the reveal, it's gaius. delicious!

with morgana's knowledge looming, things would inevitably spiral into a magic reveal by the end of season 4. i picture this season as an absolute mess of miscommunication between everyone at camelot, which is, y'know, canon. growing increasingly cunning and vengeful, morgana would use this tension to her advantage, destabilizing the court from the outside while she creates alliances with other sorcerers outside of camelot (instead of living alone in a hovel for no reason — morgana le fay i'm sorry i'm so sorry they gave you agravaine instead of your all-female entourage oh my god).

and here's where the events would change beyond recognition (aka here's where the meta becomes the fanfic i refuse to write). picture it with me: a militia of sorcerers infiltrates camelot and arthur and gwen have to set aside their differences (assuming gwen kissing lancelot and arthur overreacting happens, which it should) for the good of the kingdom as well as for love. picture high priestess morgana in her element, side by side with a bunch of misfit sorcerers that aren't so easily vilified, chopping down camelot's soldiers and knights and assuredly making their way to the newly-minted king.

then, just as it starts to seem that all hope is lost, in swoops merlin (the actual merlin, not his old fart disguise) on dragonback (kilgharrah hates morgana so much i know his sexist ass would stoop to anything to stop her)!!! imagine merlin showing off the extent of his powers in front of everyone and preventing the sorcerers from getting any further, declaring loud and clear that camelot is protected by him, by emrys. imagine that display of power alone being enough to send everyone home.

imagine the loyalties clearly drawn: merlin on arthur's side, morgana on the sorcerers'. imagine arthur, feeling confused and betrayed by everyone at this point, banishing merlin despite everything he's done for him in the angstiest, most emotionally dysregulated scene the show had ever put to screen. imagine merlin starting season 5 free at last but very lonesome, an embittered dragonlord like his father. imagine the absolute mess camelot would become without him, even with gwen — now queen guinevere — there to pick up the slack. imagine arthur actually earning merlin back, finally growing into his role as king as he does so. imagine the reunion.

all this and more could've been not just possible but inevitable if morgana was allowed to remain a complex character that is neither inherently good nor inherently evil: it was undeniably the biased and one-note treatment of morgana's downfall by the writers that set the precedent for literally everything else that happened after merlin chose to poison her. the show wouldn't have even had to jeopardize its tone or the monster-of-the-week vibe, all it would've had to do is admit that even the "good guys" are capable of mistakes and what makes them good is the ability to feel remorse and change for the better. (as opposed to uther, who was miles beyond redemption since way before the pilot and deserved to lose everything and die alone. OBVIOUSLY???)

in a world where morgana remains multifaceted and sympathetic, mordred would get a better arc as well, so if we really wanted to, we could still end on the same tragic note that the show ended on. with so much harm inflicted onto so many innocent people by the pendragons for so long (including mordred and the many druids and sorcerers that raised him), it could realistically end up being a little too late for anything more than one shining glimpse of king arthur and the sorcerer merlin's short-lived golden age before fate catches up to them. glimpsing that reality just to immediately lose it would've been far more satisfying and far more tragic than whatever the writers thought they were doing with all that pointless carrot-dangling.

and finally, an ending in line with morgana's new and improved arc. in this version, rather than bleeding out on the forest floor alone, she would channel the morgan le fay we know from the legends: sobered up by the reality of her brother dying, she would use her high priestess status (and perhaps also her pendragon status) to be granted passage over to avalon alongside arthur on the boat — a one-way ride — just to make sure he gets there safely. this is her penance for the harm she has caused, the same way arthur's penance is to die and leave the true ruler of camelot (gwen) behind to achieve everything he was too slow and indecisive to build while he still had time.

merlin's penance, then, would be to stay behind and watch them cross over without him, waiting and waiting and waiting until they come back or until he can finally join them. which is a bit fucking harsh if i'm honest, so i'd at least make it slightly more faithful to the legends by having him return as an old man and letting him take a long nap under a tree by the shore, his body slowly enveloped by vines like the cobwebbed fisher king in 3x08, never fully sure if he's dreaming or if there really are strange shapes fading in and out of the fog over the lake. still tragic, but nevertheless a little more open-ended and whimsical than [TRUCK NOISES] THE END!

[cosmicjoke]

You know what, screw this tired bullshit about Levi being "a weapon". People constantly reduce him down to just that, when in reality, what actually makes Levi humanity's strongest soldier isn't his skill as a fighter, it's his heart. It's his compassion and empathy. And it's those qualities that Erwin constantly referenced and depended upon to help humanity, not Levi's violence. Anyone paying any kind of attention to the story and these characters should be able to pick up on that. Levi's defining characteristic isn't his violence, it's his kindness, and his history with Kenny is meant to demonstrate how, despite the way Kenny raised him, Levi still managed to rise above it and become a good man. It's honestly so disgusting and insulting to Levi's character when people reduce him down to just being a thing, a tool to be used for some ideological cause, when Levi is the most human character in the story. I said the other day that people always call Levi "an unbothered king", but in truth, Levi is the most bothered character in AoT. He's the most bothered character because he cares more than anyone. That's his real superpower. The fact he never becomes desensitized or apathetic toward the loss and suffering around him, despite being exposed to more of it than anyone.

It's just beyond me how anyone could read Levi's backstory, both in the main manga, and in "Bad Boy", and come away with this idea that Levi is inherently violent. You're meant to understand from learning about his backstory that he wasn't actually ever inherently violent (the way Eren was) but that he was forced into violence through the circumstances of his upbringing. Levi perfectly encapsulates what Sasha's father was talking about, about how adults lead children "into the forest", meaning into violence and conflict. Kenny led Levi into that forest, by forcing him to stay in the Underground and teaching him to kill. The whole point of "Bad Boy" was to show that fighting and killing didn't come naturally to Levi. Kenny left him to die, left him on his own in a place that preyed on helpless children, and it was pure luck that Levi's powers awoke in that moment, when he was being beaten to death. It's just as likely that his powers wouldn't have awoken at all, and he would have died. But yeah, Kenny was a great parent, sure. That's totally a normal way of raising a child. Letting them get beat almost to death and hoping it leads to them being able to take care of themselves instead of their demise. Further, we see the damage Kenny's caused Levi through Levi thinking about how Kenny wouldn't let the man in the glasses live. Levi's been taught by Kenny that in order to survive, you have to kill. He's been exposed to that lesson, again and again, forced into adopting it through Kenny's refusal to actually protect him, and as a result, Levi kills the man, which I mean, the bitch deserved it. But it doesn't change the fact that this was an incredibly traumatizing event for Levi which could have been avoided entirely if Kenny had just taken Levi to the surface. I've talked about this a lot, how we see that trauma response from Levi afterward, how being forced into killing, through Kenny's neglect, and how being taught by Kenny that killing and violence is a good or effective solution to most problems, had horrific consequences for Levi's mental and emotional well-being. Levi bursts into tears at the end of "Bad Boy" because of the damage Kenny has inflicted upon him, by refusing to take him "out of the forest". By instead forcing him into the forest. He totally fucked Levi up. Levi isn't a naturally violent person at all, but he was forced into becoming violent, and it's in that fact that Levi's tragedy lies.

Levi and Eren are set as foils to one another in the story to demonstrate this fact, by the way. Eren is naturally inclined toward violence. He and Levi are quite literally diametrically opposed. They're both violent, but for completely different reasons. Their backstories are meant to contrast one another, Eren coming from an idyllic childhood with loving, attentive parents who provided everything for him, Levi coming from a hellish childhood of poverty and desperation, with a mother who died and couldn't provide properly for him, and an uncle who did nothing but ruin his life further. They're both the most violent characters in the story, but their backgrounds are meant to show the difference in the nature of that violence. Eren's comes naturally, having nothing in his childhood to spur him toward that end, while Levi's violence was forced on him by the circumstances of his environment, forcing him to become violent in order to simply survive. The contrast is intentional. It's a subversion of the expected hero's journey. People would assume, out of the two characters, that it would be Levi who turned out to be the villain, but in fact it was the opposite. Levi is the hero and Eren in the villain. Again, they act as foils for one another within the narrative.

Levi is shown at the end of the story settling into a life of peace for a reason. Once he no longer has to fight, once there's no longer any need for that, he still continues fighting to help others in whatever ways he can, but this time, instead of as a weapon, as something much more suited to his actual nature, as someone who tries to build things and bring a little joy into the lives of children who have lost everything. That's what makes Levi's ending so beautiful, and probably the most hopeful aspect of the ending. To see this man who was forced into violence all his life finally getting to be who he really is.

That's directly contrasted against the tragedy of Levi's character throughout the rest of the story. This idea that he's a good and gentle man, forced to become violent and vicious by the world around him. Forced to become something he, deep down, never was. That's, again, what makes Levi's ending so powerful.

And, unsurprisingly and ironically, it's almost always people who accuse those who discuss all of this in relation to Levi of "woobifying" his character, or making him an "uwu", that turn around and do exactly that to Erwin's character, painting him to be some golden retriever ball of sunshine who never did anything wrong in his life. The irony here comes in the fact that Erwin's actions were always way more morally dubious than anything Levi's ever done. Even in torturing Sannes, probably the most morally dubious thing Levi's ever done, Levi only did so because it was necessary for them to find out who the true heir to the throne was, or the coup was going to fail and all of his comrades were going to die as a result. He was torturing Sannes to save lives, because he genuinely believe it was what was necessary to save humanity, and the one instance of Levi engaging in an act of unnecessary violence came because Sannes started bragging about torturing people and acting as if he should be praised and thanked for his actions. Levi was disgusted listening to someone trying to justify the same act he was `presently engaged in, because Levi could objectively understand that torturing someone was a disgusting thing to do, even while believing it was necessary to save lives. Because Levi never lost sight or strayed from what he felt was right. Even as he could objectively acknowledge that the act of torture was a horrible thing, he also believed fully, in that moment, that it was the only way to keep more people from getting killed.

Erwin, on the other hand, always knew deep down that what he was doing, the lie he was telling himself and others to get them to sacrifice their lives, was wrong, that it was wrong to deceive and manipulate people into giving up their lives for one thing, when in reality it was always for something else entirely, something they didn't agree to give their lives for. This is why Erwin was so guilt ridden, in the end. It's why we see him unable to carry the weight of that guilt any longer, why we see his psyche beginning to fracture, and why Levi ultimately realized that Erwin was done as their Commander. The guilt was beginning to destroy him and would have, eventually, corrupted him and turned him into a monster. In deliberate contrast, Levi never ends up crushed by guilt, despite all this shit going wrong. And the reason for that is because Levi never went against his own conscience the way Erwin did. Further to the point, even with all that guilt, Erwin still needed Levi to make the choice for him. He wasn't morally strong enough to do it on his own, even while knowing it was the right thing to do. That's the moment the audience is meant to recognize that, all this time, it was actually Levi who was the better man. It was always Levi who was the strong one. It was always Levi who was the hero. Levi's idolization of Erwin is meant to be shown, through this moment, as ironic in itself, because Levi was looking up to a man who Levi himself was always superior to.

I want to address one more point in this post, unrelated to the previous several points, about what Isayama said about Levi viewing prostitution as a "regular job", and how the framing of that answer by some (tsuki, lets face it) as being reflective of how Kuchel's profession working as a prostitute didn't negatively impact her or Levi's life, is absurd and disingenuous. It's such a blatant misreading of not just Isayama's answer, but of the text itself, to push this bizarre agenga of painting Levi's childhood as being better than it actually was. What Isayama is actually saying is that Levi became conditioned to seeing prostitution as a regular part of life. That doesn't mean he thinks it's "right" or "good". Just a reality of his existence, the same way he came to see violence as a regular part of his existence. But we see, even as Levi won't definitively say whether killing in and of itself is right or wrong, he still makes moral judgments on it depending on the circumstances of said killing, like how he judges Zeke for killing the people of Ragako Village, because they were innocent and posed no threat to him, showing anger at Zeke for feeling no remorse over having done so`. The same would undoubtedly apply to how he views prostitution. He would see the women working as prostitutes as normal people, not deserving of judgment or ostracism just because of their line of work. His own mother was a prostitute, and he loved her endlessly. He clearly didn't hold her profession against her in any way, or judge her for it, which is just in line with Levi's character anyway, being the least judgmental character in AoT. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't have been aware of the harm working in such a profession causes. The way PTSD is so prevalent among sex workers. He, after all, watched his mother also die from contracting what can easily be assumed was an STD from one of her customers, and he also experienced a life of squalor, destitution, poverty and isolation, as well as discrimination, because that same profession wasn't enough to provide for the both of them. So just because Levi would view sex workers as normal people working a "normal job" (i.e. something he was conditioned to seeing as a normal part of life) doesn't mean he wasn't aware of or impacted by the danger inherent to that profession or didn't see the ways in which it obviously, negatively impacted his mother and himself. The same way that, just because Levi is used to violence and death, and accepts it as a regular part of life, doesn't mean he sees those things as okay or acceptable. The same applies to this. He'd also, undoubtedly, see the people who profit off of and force those same women into that line of work as reprehensible, as well as people who mistreat them or shun then for being sex workers as disgusting, as exemplified by his reaction to those men in "Bad Boy" when they started calling his mother a "whore".

One more point also about the excuse making I see for Kenny, and the way it exposes the hypocrisy of the people engaging in it. Levi is actually a positive example of masculinity, what masculinity should aspire to be, and yet he gets shit on all the time for his supposedly out of control violence, while Kenny gets his dick sucked because he didn't let Levi starve to death, but failed in pretty much every other category of responsibility when it came to raising a child. It just shows how ass backwards most people's views on masculinity are. Levi's masculinity is defined by the best qualities of masculinity, that being a driving, protective instinct and a willingness to take on the responsibility of protecting and caring for others, even when it costs him dearly and causes him to suffer. He's more of a real man than Kenny could ever be, and that's the point. Levi steps up and takes responsibility, dedicates himself completely to the people in his life, and does everything for them, while Kenny shirks responsibility because he's too much of a self-centered egotist and too selfish to do the right thing, always choosing instead to do whatever it takes to get what he, personally, wants. Levi and Kenny are purposefully contrasted for this reason. We're meant to see the way Kenny raised Levi, leading him into a life of violence and then abandoning him, as a bad thing. It being contrasted with Levi doing the polar opposite, dedicating himself fully to the people in his life, people he didn’t lead into violence, but who chose that life for themselves, and so Levi stays to act as their sword and shield, is also intentional, to demonstrate how, where Kenny totally failed, Levi completely succeeded. How people don't get this is beyond me.

One last point. There are many examples given of good father figures in AoT, so Kenny's portrayal isn't meant to be seen as a product of social conditioning. Kenny isn't the way he is because it's what he grew up around or because he was taught that's how father's are supposed to be. His grandfather even talks about doting on him, so we know Kenny got plenty of love growing up. Anyone who tries to use that excuse to defend Kenny is full of shit.

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 79 Gorilla Posting

Here we go, dear void. Hakuri, a lore dump that took me forever to translate, and some long-desired insight into a named character! Editor's Note: First Page: (none) Last Page: 急げっ！！！ [isoge!!!] "Hurry!!!"

Hakuri and... a New Name!

He learned nothing...

My boy! My little guy! The character I'm completely, totally normal about... he's back!! Unfortunately, he's still pressuring himself big-time.

I don't know how the official English will translate this, but on the first page, Hakuri is literally asking Kudou for a "role". Not just a task he can do, but a specific function (役目 [yakume]). So despite his much-appreciated silly faces this chapter, he's still in the depths of his self-worth issues.

Wait, who's Kudou? That's our Kamunabi higher-up with the gas mask! Their surname is 区堂, with 区 [ku] for ward/district and 堂 [dou] for hall/temple/shrine. Not very descriptive but it imparts a sense of dignity and being a small part of something greater. Kudou-san uses the neutral/polite pronoun watashi so their gender isn't really known at this time. Might end up with another Hiyuki situation by assuming y'know?

Hakuri, though... he and Chihiro care so much about each other. He better take care of himself this time (he won't).

I can't wait to see them reunite.

Because...

And so it comes to pass (along with many cute expressions)...

Hakuri's slightly nerfed right now as a consequence of how his sorcery was restored, but he should still be able to use his Storehouse to withhold the Shinuchi from the Hishaku. After that, I'm really, truly feeling like he's going to get kidnapped or some other horrible thing will happen to him. He can get kidnapped by the mole/traitor, arm the Master Swordsman on request (yes it's sealed but it can also be unsealed), lose access to his sorcery by overdoing it again... any number of things. No matter what, he's going to be a big player for the climax of this arc and I hope he doesn't suffer too much for it. He's already been through so much.

The poor guy is really hard on himself too:

...

Uruha's death panel there is weighing so damn heavily on him. So despite him thanking Kudou for the Kamunabi saving him, he's still laser-focused on being useful, probably to make up even just the slightest bit for what he feels he did to Uruha. Lord knows what he'll do if he learns that Chihiro technically died because of him too. Hakuri, it wasn't your fault at all...!

That's what the scuff marks on his face are about, though. He slept for 3 days straight but he's still not completely restored. That's how badly he wore himself out and his mindset that led him to do it is worse than ever. Hakuri is absolutely desperate to do anything he can, and it's probably not going to end well once more.

You don't have to be useful, Hakuri. You don't have to be given a role to fulfill. You're worthy of love just as you are. Please, let him learn this one day soon... but at least we leave off with him on a silly note.

Go!

Hakuri being unable to calm down is so cute; he's always giving 110%. The day where he allows himself to relax before collapsing into a coma will be a precious one!

Kamunabi Lore Dump

Real depiction of the team I wish I could work with to translate these text-heavy chapters.

The random guy we followed in the middle section of this chapter gave us a bit of information. Thank you, random guy.

So the former name of the organisation was "Counter-Sorcery Forces" and used to have a strength-based hierarchy. Congratulations, powerscalers! You have a new tool to help you in your debates.

I assume the official English will translate the military ranks on that paper, and yay I was right. Cool beans. Keep them in mind!

These aren't still in use but it's still useful to draw comparisons. Other than that, I have kind of a hard time believing that 24 people with fighting experience -who are also expected to be the first line of defence in situations just like this chapter!- are no match for three guys. Maybe it's just Samuraishaku alone? Even Azami's got some respect for him after all.

Still, it's not the first time we've seen these "Dead Willow Brothers" (死柳兄弟, shigyuukyoudai).

Chapter 57, as a refresher.

The older brother was the one throwing chains to support Hiruhiko here most likely. So hooray that was cleared up!

I wonder if the other Hishaku team has mercenaries too or if we'll finally get a clear sighting of "Jane Hishaku" and the last member we haven't seen yet. Maybe a surprising character will appear as reinforcements too. There's a lot to speculate about!

My Dearly Beloved Gorilla Wife

Someone draw him crushing a watermelon between his bare thighs PLEASE

His first name at last! 奏士郎 [soushirou]! 奏 [sou] for play music/perform/report/petition, 士 [shi] for gentleman/scholar/samurai, and 郎 [rou] for son/young man (yes it's the same kanji for what Ro of the Masumi goes by).

Azami is a man of contrasts, apparently. He speaks softly compared to the rest of the male cast (aside from Kyora) and packs a gigantic fucking punch too. I love him. He's not the traitor, he's my wife. My mind-bogglingly strong wife that probably rose to the highest echelons of the Kamunabi on raw strength alone. Seriously, I don't think I can possibly love him any more than I already do. His fighting style is to cast "fist" in his opponents faces! Leave the fancy footwork and tactics to Shiba, Azami's just going to rely on his brawn to get things done. Would still like to know what his sorcery that involves him pinching some kind of energy between his fingers is, though.

As for the Azami traitor theory, I suppose people who want to cling to it can take comfort in the fact that he wasn't given an alibi. He's absolutely furious about what happened to the Rokuhiras and had to ask Chihiro for the details. But he still could have provided the information that let the Hishaku infiltrate in the first place, I guess. The only thing that would make sense to me is if he was aiding the Hishaku out of sympathy and they misled/lied to him about their intentions. But at this point I think even Kudou is more suspicious than him.

Remember, only four people in the Kamunabi's higher ups helped Kunishige hide after the war: Azami, Kudou, Prince Nez, and the eyepatch guy we haven't seen in ages. I think we're supposed to be playing a guessing game about which one of those four it is right now.

Anyway, my wife's innocent. Let's do a minor TL note instead.

Sauceless typesetting strikes again.

圧倒的殴殺力 [attouteki ousatsuryoku] is pretty over-the-top in how much it says but it's along the lines of "overwhelming lethal brute force" while the Ruby next to it simply says パワ- (power). Speaking of nitpicks, though...

C'mon, man.

I don't expect the vertical text to be kept but the huge bold font used in JP has a bigger impact than the polite font used in English. I don't know. I just feel like it's a better match for the ridiculous setting here- we've got dudes rocking out on taiko drums and a shamisen in the background, not giving a restrained performance y'know? People enter, but only one leaves alive! This is the mother fucking Thunderdome in the middle of Kamunabi HQ! Don't question or downplay it, go all-in on the ridiculousness! There's something I want to say about this chapter that might help anyone who sees a bunch of Azami fan art with the title of the chapter: 曲者 [kusemono]. 曲者 has a ton of possible meanings but some of them likely apply to Azami himself too. "Villain", what it was translated to in the official, is perfectly valid (as are similes like "ruffian" and "knave"). But it can also mean peculiar person/stubborn fellow, something that is more than it seems, expert/master, and monster/phantom/spectre. I hope we keep learning more about Azami as this fight goes on!

Lastly...

What in the heck are you wearing my dude?

First up, that's not Samuraishaku's real face, that's the men-yoroi for his helmet- including the moustache. Pray it breaks during the fight so we can see what he really looks like.

Next, this is the second time we are having a fight against one of Kunishige's killers. Hatshaku keeps escaping but maybe we'll learn more about this guy. I feel like this is a good time to get more information on the raid itself if nothing else.

Lastly, only bringing this up because I've seen some "what if he's a different person that wasn't there at Kunishige's murder" questions because he's not wearing the suit we saw in chapter 45. Yes, this is definitely the guy who only had his left leg in frame during chapter 2. This framing makes it unmistakable:

What's under that long bang?!

Azami sees the samurai guy

Thinks about how he asked Chihiro for details of the incident over two flashback panels, zooming in on the guy's leg in the second

Notices the same leg armour in the present right in front of him

Gorilla mode activated

Clenches his fist and says they "meet at last", clearly itching to fight

Wherever Azami's loyalties lie, he clearly cares a great deal about Chihiro and Kunishige. He's fucking pissed about his friend's death and is ready to cave one of the killer's faces in.

Alright life is steamrolling me so that's all I've got this week. Be safe and treat yourself one day this week while we wait to see if there's a perspective shift. Back to Chihiro and Samura or more of this Azami & Hakuri goodness? I know what I really want but I'll take what we get.

[kitnjon]

I will be forever glad I was a Jonsa in 2019. The fics were truly the best thing to come out of season 8.

Do you have a season 8 fic recommendations??

Yeah those fics really helped us after the trauma d&d put us through right? I started reading jonsa fics around the same time to get over S8 ending. I had read a lot of S8 fix it fics back then but didnt have ao3 account so unfortunately I don't have many of them bookmarked :( Sharing a few I can recall reading and was able to find.

they tumble down by thimbleful

He meets her gaze for the shortest moment before turning to look out over the woods, gesturing at it with a gloved hand. “Is this why you brought me here? To talk about memories?” “No. I wanted to talk about marriage.” When Sansa suggests it's time for her and Jon to marry, she means they should make marriage alliances with the other Northern houses. Jon, though, assumes she means they should marry each other. A post s7 story where Jon and Sansa struggle to navigate their new political landscape while suppressing their feelings for one another, Arya does everything in her power to protect her pack, and Bran and Sam try to figure out how to kill the Night King.

2. intentions of gold (with my plans) by @jonsaslove

this is a series of one shots that follow a loose season 8 au. each episode has a fic and it works under the premise that Jon and Sansa orchestrated political!jon back in season 7 and planned to have him manipulate Daenerys into coming north.

3. victory is in my veins (oh ye of so little faith) by Lady_Alice

“Jon,” Sansa says quietly, her hands twisting together in front of her. “Tell me the truth. Do you love her?” He starts, eyes widening. “Love her?” That’s all the confirmation she needs, but Jon rushes onward, stepping closer to her, hands outstretched and voice nervous, reassuring, as if he were a husband swearing to his wife that he loves only her. “Sansa, no, no, gods, after this, I hope I never have to see her again.” // The Season 8 we deserved. (and that the characters deserved) (yeah i'll die mad about s8, sue me)

4. and no net ensnares me by thimbleful

Since Jon left, Sansa has struggled to keep things together and she longs for his return. However, when he does return things only become worse. Jon learns about his parentage and doesn't know how to make sense of anything, how to fix the inevitable mess the reveal will create, or how to protect the people he loves. But at least, after all these years, the pack is finally back together. Then, one day, Sansa disappears. Post season 7 fic.

5. such simple words (such a complicated truth) by thimbleful

"You don’t have the right name to make men rally behind you, you don’t have any armies nor land or a castle or--” “No, but I do.” Sansa drops her necklace and Jon shifts in his seat to get away from the twisting sensation in his stomach. He knows where this is going: his depraved dreams come true under the worst possible circumstances. Jon and Sansa get married and consummate that marriage. That's it. That's the fic.

6. what do you want (that you do not have) by thimbleful

When the Winterfellians learn that Cersei has hired men to kidnap Sansa, they decide that Sansa needs to run away and Jon volunteers to protect her. During their travels the tension builds between them--especially after Jon suffers an injury and they're taken in by an older couple. Because, in hopes of protecting their identities, Jon and Sansa have to pretend to be happily married and in love. Every day. In close quarters. For quite some time. Takes place after the war against the NK is won. Not a kidnapping fic.

7. soldier, go bravely on by @missfaber

King's Landing is ash. The game is revealed. Jon Snow faces the consequences of his choices. Daenerys Targaryen seeks subservience from all. Sansa Stark will not go quietly. Westeros hangs in the balance. + an alternate ending for Game of Thrones. 8.x06 fix-it fic

8. we are buried in broken dreams by @writerbri-archive

Prompt: Sansa and Jon sleeping together before he goes to Dragonstone and when he comes back he finds out she is pregnant. A full on s8 fix-it fic at this point.

9. A Time for Wolves by missgreeneinthlibrary

Winter was coming. Now it's here. Season 8 reimagined with a Jonsa twist.

[clean-bands-dirty-stories]

Mercy ~ T.R.

A/n: I haven’t actually watched this far into the show, this is all from second hand understanding, so if it’s a little OOC I apologize :)

Request: “Can you do a Theo Raeken x Mreader where the reader never doubted that there was goodness in Theo’s heart even tho he committed terrible acts, the reader supports Theo because they knew that he was led astray since he was a child. The pack believes that the reader maybe crazy and when they discuss that Theo deserves everything bad that happens to him, the reader defends him, which makes Theo feels like he doesn’t deserve someone like them.” By anon

Word Count: 2100+

MASTERLIST

"Stop that." 

Y/n was a pretty passive person. His strengths came from maintaining focus and calm. Hiding, not being seen, never losing control. When he spoke, it was always even and his gaze gave nothing away. He wasn't particularly comforting, or good at fighting, but he was extremely good at getting out of a tight situation - or sneaking into one without consequences. It left him often as the one who could get reinforcements, deliver information where it was needed, or learn important things others couldn't because he hadn't been noticed or stopped.

Which meant easily enough that when he glared at someone, or when his sharp tone snapped through the room with genuine anger, the pack knew it was a severe reaction. If you didn't know him, it would be easy to dismiss the outburst as quieter than Derek's, or softer than what Isaac or Stiles might have hit with. There was no sass or sarcasm and even very little poison in the words... but the fact that it was so full of emotion was telling.

Especially because all they were talking about was Theo.

Scott raised his eyebrows as he shot Y/n a sideways glace. "Stop what?"

"Don't talk about trauma you don't understand," was all Y/n said.

Stiles' face twisted slightly with an anger leaning confusion. "What are you talking about? Theo tried to kill Scott and take over all of us. Including you. He did horrible experiments on the chimeras he did get his hands on - and most of them died. All he has done is cause pain and misery since he got here. Who the hell cares what he's been through?"

Y/n's sudden pointed look stopped Stiles dead. It was equivalent to a blade being pressed to his throat, or a gun leveled at his head. It was a threat - a promise - and he knew to back down immediately. "You never know what kind of person others' experiences would have made you if you'd lived through them. Theo was a child. And before you go off or dismiss me like you have in the past, Stilinski, no I don't condone or dismiss the vast amounts of harm he has caused the people around him. I'm not saying anyone is required to forgive him just because he had a hard life. I was there when Kira sent him to hell the first time, and I helped every step of the way. I stand by what we did. But he doesn't deserve all the pain and suffering he's been through, and it does matter, and he deserves a chance to get better and be a different person." He grew quiet for a moment, sensing everyone in the room growing tense and avoiding his eyes. He sighed and stood from his chair. "I'll see you guys later - let me know when you need me." He left the room, leaving everyone staring after him with wide eyes and parted lips.

Despite how important he found his message, Y/n knew not to push it. It wouldn't go anywhere to hit a brick wall over and over again. It would just break his hand.

-

"What's your deal this time?" Scott sighed the words, his shoulders drooping. This time Theo was in the room, and they'd been trying to ignore Y/n expression as it grew darker and darker, but Scott was powerful because he cared - of course he couldn't last forever.

Y/n's eyes were trained on the windows to the side of the room they were on, taking in the view of the outside past them. Trying to focus and ground himself. He needed to answer this calmly no matter how volatile he felt; they needed to be united in the face of those who depended on them. Like Liam and Theo. 

When he did speak, he could feel every single pair of eyes on him. "I will not stand for that talk in my presence. Keep your harsh words to yourself, or I will intervene."

Stiles, who had been the one going off on Theo, rolled his eyes. He was still wrapped up in his ow feelings and thoughts and didn't have the wherewithal to control himself - even under such threat from Y/n. He fell back on what he was best at: not shutting up. "Theo killed his own sister-"

Y/n snapped. He rushed Stiles, hands wrapping in his shirt as he slammed the other boy against the wall. Everyone scrambled, but Scott held up a hand and caught his breath, eyes wide. They all paused. They had trusted Y/n to not go too far this long; they needed to keep doing so. This was important to him, and it needed to happen. Stiles looked startled but unhurt, so they could hold their breath for just a second. Each person was coiled though, ready to launch the second Scott gave the signal.

"Derek tried to start his own pack and fucked up Jackson's entire life. He has been universally unhelpful, an all-around dick, and general trouble since day one and we forgave him. Isaac was part of that pack, and actively antagonized everyone in our pack - especially you and Scott. He got into fights, belittled other people, and fell through plenty of times when we really needed him. He's disappeared completely when we need him the most and we forgave him anyway because we understand him and see his perspective and work around it. Jackson actively tried to kill us for weeks, but we wrote it off because he was being controlled. But he was that vicious far before he was a monster, and actively bullied and belittled all of us. He put Scott in danger several times and tried his best to ostracize us and make us hate ourselves. Even Lydia used her intelligence and power to hurt and tear down other people - but she's the most active part of this community just because her powers forced her to be here and we accepted her the way she was after that, allowing her to be truer to herself as time passed until she became a genuinely kind and caring person.

"There have been plenty of people who have actively hurt us that we've forgiven. Don't even get me started on Peter. But we forgave them anyway, and they were far older than Theo was - and most of them did what they did without any outside influence. Theo was a child, and whatever horrible thing they did to the other chimeras for a month of two, Theo got for seven fucking years. I don't care what you think or what you know, shut your fucking mouth or I will shut it for you. He's been given the chance to change, and he's trying his best to. He has done a lot for us since he's been back - especially for Liam. He's one of the only ones who's treated Liam's struggles seriously while you make fun of the boy for what he deals with - and you know what? Now that I'm thinking about it, who the hell are you to say anything? You want to start digging shit up about the Nogitsune? How about Allison?"

A hand landed on Y/n shoulder as Stiles' face went pale. "That's enough." Scott.

Y/n caught himself, letting Stiles' shirt go and stepping back. You don't have to forgive him, or like him, but if you're going to talk shit it better not be where he can hear you. Or where I can hear you, for that matter. Next time I'll just deck you - I'm tired of your bullshit." And with that, he left the room. He knew there would be some kind of repercussions for that... but he didn't care. If he left the pack then perhaps it was just time for it to happen. 

He was sure that was the end of it for now, but he heard the door open behind him again as he made his way down the hall. Of all the people he had been expecting to see when he turned to defend himself - he had not been expecting Theo himself.

The brunette boy slowed out of his jog once he'd caught up, stopping too close to Y/n. There was something in his eyes. Tears, at his water line, but also so many emotions that twisted and roiled - too many for Y/n to even begin to decipher. Y/n was taken aback by the emotion, and froze in place, unsure what would happen next. Final Theo managed a, "Thank you," but it was so thin that Y/n knew there was so much to that than the simple two words would be communicating normally.

So he took a second to think, so absorb it all and try to understand. His expression melted and softened, opened up and allowed sincerity and vulnerability to come through. He had been watching Theo struggle for ages now and he was more than willing to let it show plainly. "I'm glad you're back, Theo. That you've taken this chance to learn new things and become a new person. I knew back then that you were capable of good, and you haven't disappointed."

Theo's eyebrows came together. "You did?"

Y/n shrugged, growing a bit sheepish. "I doubted it in the end... I mean, everyone has some good in them, but I decided that it was over, you'd lost your chance, and it hit me to my core. But you served plenty of penance in hell, and when you came back... I could tell you were so different. And I hoped again. And it all paid off. You're becoming the person I always knew you could be. I'm proud of you."

Those emotions turned across Theo's face again and he paused for a whole second before something snapped, or broke - something. Theo closed the distance between them, grabbing Y/n's face and pulling him into a kiss. Y/n hummed in surprise but the sound turned almost immediately into a moan when their lips actually met. The kiss was hard and passionate. Their hands pulled at each other, both of them losing whatever control they had in that moment to do their best to drown in each other. 

Y/n hooked his fingers in Theo's belt, pulling him closer, and whatever anxiety Theo had about the moment melted away. His hands moved from Y/n's face to his hair, fingers wrapping around the strands and tugging on them, forcing his head back to tuck Y/n flush against his chest as every inch between them was filled. Y/n moaned again and Theo sighed into the kiss, his expression relaxing and a smile coming to his face. He reacted again, forcing Y/n to scramble to keep up with him as he moved them through the hall until Y/n's back slammed against the wall.

It was aggressive and desperate but didn't actually hurt. Y/n found himself surprisingly comfortable and only enjoying every moment they shared now. There was tenderness to the kiss too. Small things, like the tips of Y/n's fingers running across the top of Theo's waistband and ghosting the skin there; Theo's thumb rubbing the softest circles at the back of Y/n's neck where the smalls of his hair grew thinner than the rest of the thicker hair, allowing his skin to feel the contact and tingle at such affection. There was nothing sexual to it, which also made every single kiss and bite as Theo caught Y/n's bottom lip or skated away from his lips and began to trail across Y/n's jaw and down his neck - it was all accompanied with sighs and kisses if Y/n's hissed in pain. 

How long had Theo wanted this? Because the sheer relief and desperation communicated Y/n's own feelings like a mirror. 

After a few minutes they both relaxed and melted into each other, their touches and holds relaxing until Theo simply leaned into Y/n, their foreheads pressed together. It was quiet for a few beats, and then - "I don't deserve you."

Y/n scoffed. He reached up, gripping Theo's jaw between his fingers. "I'll kick your ass too, Raeken."

That made Theo smile. "Feel free." He left another kiss on Y/n's lips, but this one was lingering and soft. It was more intimate that way, and they were both left a little dazed. "Will you go on a date with me?" He still didn't seem entirely sure, which was almost laughable after the kisses they'd just shared, but Y/n didn't say anything. 

Who was he to give someone shit for questioning the person they liked liking them back when they thought it impossible?

Y/n sighed, nodding. "Yeah. I'd like that."

Theo pressed their foreheads together and they sat there for a long time. Y/n got the feeling that neither of them would feel alone ever again... They had each other now. They'd be just fine.

-

Story Tags: @badblondebisexualboy

Male reader Tags: @ravenpuff-oli @sortzz